Pure unadulterated entertainment

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 1999)

So, I'll be seeing The Mummy for the seventh time this weekend. For those of you who think that's over the top, it may be. The first five times were at the insistence of my four-year-old daughter who has nerves of steel and came through unscathed. I am looking for friends who haven't been fortunate enough to have seen it yet to provide me an excuse to see it again. I should add that, although I watch movies over and over, in general (the ones I like), I rarely spend my money at the theater to do so.
Many deplore the current trend of blending humor and action and drama and, in this case, horror, and romance. But I love a movie like that. I like getting it all. Some have compared it to the Indiana Jones movies. There is some justification for that and I don't think it suffers by the comparison. If it isn't as graphically violent or as gritty (and it's not), it benefits by the excellent advances in special effects (without being made by them) and by a lead character women might well prefer since he is clearly more interested in the girl than the treasures. In tone and humor, it could also be likened, I think, to "True Lies" and "Men in Black", partially because of the mixes of horror, action, humor and/or romance and partially because of the excellent seamless effects that are part of the story rather than included just to impress.
It is not "best picture" material (more's the pity) because it is obviously too much fun. It is fresh time after time, amusing and thrilling. And I am grateful because it had slipped my mind how versatile and talented Branden Fraser was.
I will not hesitate to purchase it on DVD.