Great tongue-in-cheek fun

Rating: Null/10 (18 February 2002)

If you're expecting an intelligent piece of film-making, don't watch "The Mummy". If you're looking for a smartly directed film classic, please look away. If you want your deserts to have that sweeping epic feel, return to "Lawrence of Arabia". If you want an amusing, action/adventure flick then look no further.
"The Mummy" does exactly what it sets out to do - entertain. It's written firmly to be a mass-audience block-buster-brain-dead fare, but it's done a lot better than drivel like "Mission: Impossible II" or "Armageddon". Importantly it doesn't try to be all clever and smart - the movie is played for laughs. It's not an all out comedy but there's a knowing-wink to the movie as Brendan Fraser quips his way through the movie, assisted by Evie (Rachel Weisz) and her incompetent brother Jonathan (John Hannah). The titular Mummy (Arnold Vosloo) has some good on screen presence and, while not menacing, does have an aura of power to him.
A movie like this contains a heavy dose of action and they're generally well executed. The SFX mostly live up to the job, baring a few ropey moments (most noticeably the scarab swarms), and the viewer is generally kept into the action without ever being confused. There's no directorial innovation or trickery - Sommers sticks squarely to the well known tactics and it pays off.
"The Mummy" has a very Indiana-Jones feel to it, not least because Fraser's character is also an exploring man caught up in archaeology. All he needs is a whip - though he substitutes with a dual-John-Wooesque-two-pistols trick. The humour is what helps the movie along because if it *were* to take itself seriously, it would fall to pieces. As it is you're left with some great fun, your brain switched off, and a couple of hours passed away. For it's genre it's recommended - 7/10