A solid mix of adventure and comedy with a dash of horror

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2017)

The classic monster was brought back to life at the end of the millennium for a silly and fun adventure film directed by Stephen Sommers. A prologue narrated by the Magi leader Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) introduces the priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who fell in love with the Pharoah's mistress Anck Su Namun (Patricia Velasquez) and was entombed and cursed. Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) is a soldier who finds the lost City of the Dead, Hamunaptra. He is allowed to escape by the Magi who watch the city so that the mummy is never resurrected. Three years later, Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) works at a library in Cairo thanks to a donation from her wealthy, deceased parents when her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) brings her a map in a puzzle box.
Evelyn saves Rick from execution in a prison run by Warden Gad Hassan (Omid Djalili) who is promised a percentage of the treasure in Hamunaptra. They set out a journey up the Nile accompanied by another crew of Americans led by O'Connell's fellow soldier and betrayer Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor). The two groups dig in separate parts of the period. Gad Hassan discovers the scarab beetles and suffers a terrible fate. The group of Americans uncover the Book of the Dead and collect the organ of Imhotep. Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan discover the juicy corpse of Imhotep. Evelyn steals the Book of the Dead from Dr. Allen Chamberlain (Jonathan Hyde) and reads the words awaking the mummy. A plague of locusts descends on the camp.
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