Death is only the beginning!!!

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2017)

Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah) obtains a map of the ancient city of Hamunaptra from Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) whom has landed himself in prison. He shows the map to his sister Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) a librarian whom is also an authority on Egyptian History. When Evelyn learns that Rick knows the way to the ancient city she pays a considerable sum for his freedom and the three of them make their way to the ancient city. Unfortunately for them, a rival group have also arrived at the ancient city (in search of the treasure), but even more unfortunately for everyone else their combined meddling has awoken a Mummy that has been dead for over 3000 years. The Mummy (Arnold Vosloo) intends to use Evelyn as a sacrifice to bring his dead lover back to life...
The Mummy is a fairly goofy, tongue-in-cheek type adventure film and that is perhaps one of its greatest strengths. The fact that it doesn't take itself seriously is actually one of its selling points - the cast look like they're having fun here and that does translate well on screen.
I think where this film may run into problems with some people is if you start drawing comparisons to other films - when looking at it is does remind one slightly of Indiana Jones (it's easy to see elements of both Raiders of the lost ark and The Last Crusade). The problem is that it is weaker than both these films because it doesn't have the same tension to it - director Sommers seems to use goofball charm and humour to get by. Don't get me wrong it's fun to watch and quite enjoyable, but it doesn't offer the same type of tension or suspense that you get from an Indiana Jones film and naturally suffers by comparison.
The cast are all on good form with Brendan Fraser making a good hero; he's not quite Harrison Ford, but he does a good job. Rachel Weisz is excellent as well and whilst she's clearly intelligent for the most part I did like the way that she had occasional ditzy moments and also liked that she was afforded some vulnerability (the scene where she was drunk is a good example). John Hannah was fun to watch as a minor comic relief character (kind of like Sallah in Raiders of the lost ark). Vosloo was very good as the antagonist, but in some ways the goofy nature of the film held him back and he wasn't as terrifying as he perhaps could have been.
In some ways The Mummy is both unremarkable and unmemorable (particularly when compared to the earlier Indiana Jones films), but it does have some charm to it, some laughs and the fact that it doesn't take itself seriously is also a big plus. It's good for a one time watch, but if you want to watch a really good adventure film focusing on archaeological digging the you really owe to yourself to watch Raiders of the lost ark which is an absolute classic.