best cliffhanger in a long time

Rating: 9/10 (18 March 2003)

Is this shakespearian plotting and epical choices ? Not really... Is this Academy-Award worthy deep thought method-acting, drama and dialogue ? Ahem, not really either. Interesting because of its correct portraying of ancient Eqyptian culture and life ? Hardly
But - what this IS, is pure, undiluted, fast paced and witty adventure cinema at its best. Leave real world sensibilities and belief in established facts at the door, please, lean back and enjoy ! "The Mummy" is a pure cliffhanger movie (in the Indiana Jones tradition, but definitely not a cheap rip off a la "Quartermain" ), with mystic mumbling, firefights, beautiful women, terrible curses and pretty nice places to venture through ( many of these thanks to spotless CGI ), with an ancient and cursed mummy being accidentally reawakened in the 1920ies by a crew of slightly careless, if amusing archaeologist/tomb-robbers - who now have to put the bunny back into the box, or rather the mummy back into the sacrophagus.

Great panoramic shots and landscapes (making you want to jump into the next flight to Egypt) , nice - fast but not breathless - editing and a moody soundtrack provide an excellent setting. The CGI effects on the walking corpse and its special tricks are pretty decent, especially for a late 1990ies flick.The cast of (among others ) Brendan Frazer, Rachel Weisz (simply beyond comparison ), John Hannah and more or less mummified Arnold Vosloo seemed to have had a blast of a time, especially with the bantering dialogue ( simply check the memorable quotes section ) as well as personal interaction and immersing themselves into the setting.
And despite this being a "monster-horror" movie by default, the "Mummy" actually travels far more on the power of it's verbal sparring, true situational comedy and rather smart allusions to other genre favourites (like someone uttering "Bugs ? I hate bugs !" while rappelling down into an ancient Eqyptian ruin... ) then on it's appeal as a "shock-horror" flick scaring the audience witless. Call it a cliffhanger with moments of horror ( no gore, though, but some frightening concepts ) and some suspense - or better call it THE cliffhanger - IMHO this has yet to be surpassed in this genre ( yes, including IMHO the Indiana Jones triology ).
worth every cent - unless you wanted to spend the evening in miserable brooding