Common eye candy with county-of-the-art effects & a good cast (for the most part).

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 1999)

For all those who say to me, "it's only a movie" I say (insert raspberry sound here). It's only a ride, it's only a book, it's only a picture, it's only a song. Do you listen to bad songs just because they're there?
"The Mummy" is a formulaic compendium of over used Hollywoodisms, text book cinematic devices, attempts at humor that manifest as cliches and overall bad directorial judgement. The old saying being "when you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance . . .baffle 'em with . . .well, you know the rest (especially if you're a script writer in Hollywood).
A very workable cast with unrealized potential plays second fiddle to an effects extravaganza without substance. The use of tongue-in-cheek to stand-in for character and story development is the oldest trick in the trade mag. It seems to be the only trick the movie industry has left. "The Mummy" is full of inconsistencies within it's own set of rules, sound effects for no purpose, other than to make those audience members with Saran-Wrap for eardrums jump, without establishing the sonic environment.
I could go on but it's Mother's Day and I have a phone call to make. I was hoping for another "Raiders" and instead got "Grifted". HOLLYWOOD! Watch the old classics and figure out why they were. 'Nough said.