Entertainment in the mildest of forms...

Rating: 4/10 (8 May 1999)

The story so far: Fraser and Weisz, together with some friends and a few rivals, visit the lost city of Hamunaptra in search of some buried treasure. Unfortunately, the city is also home to an ancient curse. They discover and revive Imhotep, a rather unfriendly corpse who, after being fully regenerated himself, plans to revive his lost love by sacrificing Weisz. What happens next? Well, if you've seen the Indiana Jones films then you know what to expect.
If done right, this could've been a very frightening Horror film. Writer/Director Stephen Sommers proved with last years' "Deep Rising" that he could successfully combine Horror and Comedy to create a fun, intense, and sometimes scary Adventure film. The difference with "The Mummy" is that the accent is on the Comedy and I'm not talking about a mild accent, either. This time the entertaining one-liners only succeed in diffusing the suspense he might've created. Why? Because they come one after another, without any breaks, even when the situation would seem better suited to silence. The thing I loved about "Deep Rising" and the similarly toned "Tremors" is that not only did they know when to keep the comedy coming, they also knew when to shut up. No such luck here. Instead of a fast paced monster movie we get the equivilent in the children's category; toned down violence and a few minor scares. This isn't the type of film I expected from the director who, just last year, had me on the edge of my seat while watching Treat Williams and Famke Janssen race through a flooded cruise ship on a waverunner mere meters ahead of a cluster of angry tentacles.
In closing, let me say that "The Mummy" wasn't the worst film. The one-liners were funny and I was certainly never bored, but this is a film that will appeal more to the preteen, early teen age groups. It reminds one of the days when parents didn't need to be quite so concerned about the films their children were watching. A Horror film for the young, if you will.