Really funny comedy....oh wait...its a horror flick

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 1999)

After hearing all the good stuff about "The Mummy", I wanted to see it. Unfortunatly I missed it in the theater, and rented it tonight on video. I have to say I laughed hysterically through a lot of it. I dont think it was supposed to have been a comedy though.
Brendan Frasier leads the cast as Rick O'Connell, an American who seems to be serving with the French Foreign Legion. Frasier is well suited to the part, and shows surprisingly good comic timing with lots of deadpan deliveries of certain lines.
Rachel Weisz is the female lead, a somewhat clumsy librarian with an extensive knowledge of Egyptian history. She is as beautiful as she is dull, her character not very interesting. She has a couple good moments, and also delivers some perfectly timed humor.
Most of the rest of the supporting cast is just along for the ride, with Kevin J. O'Conner's Beni leading the way. Youre actually happy to see this little weasel get what he deserves.
Arnold Vosloo's Imhotep is not that great a character either, which is not what you expect from the central theme of the movie. He is far more interesting and unsettling as a computer generated skeleton than as a real actor.
"The Mummy" is a great comedy, and I see why it worked well at the box office. Maybe I'm growing too critical, but this one was just not all it was cracked up to be. Also, it was about 30 minutes too long...it really needed less desert setup scenes.
1 1/2 out of 4