A light-hearted update with all-due respect to the original.

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 1999)

As a fan of the original Universal horror films, I dreaded the idea of a big-budget production replete with CGI; however, I was pleasantly surprised by this remake of 1932's "The Mummy".
The story takes the original idea (old not-dead guy wants old dead high school sweetheart back) and gives it a 90's scarier-than-then tweak. Imhotep, a bad-ass Egyptian priest gets fresh with Pharoah's woman, and as punishment receives the worst death/curse in the books. Unfortunately, as with most curses, if you find that book, he comes back. And like most catch-22's, he's a booger to kill.
Fortunately, like Richard Chamberlain's Allan Quartermain films, this action-filled horror film is sprinkled with good-natured humor which intrudes only once, fortunately at the beginning. Gunplay is superb, as long as you dig good old-fashioned multi-six-shooter gunfights. And historically the film does a good job, and very little of the fictionalized Egyptian culture is questionable.
What surprised me most about the film is the special effects. The CGI as said before is the best I've seen in a long time, and only falters when more than one beetle is on screen and when .22 caliber machine gun shells make manhole-sized pocks in the face of a sandstorm. The worst effect regrettably seems to be a favorite, as Imhotep's distended jaw lets loose too many supernatural howls. The film lags only when the romance seeps in and breaks formula a little too much in those rare places when formula works. The denoument does seem rushed, as the curses suddenly go on hiatus after arriving in previously rapid succession. The ending was reasonably anti-climactic, but natural, and combined with the overall good-natured feel of the film, I was reminded of the best sci-fi film in years: "The Frighteners", and as is rare in Hollywood, the two films could be from the same universe.
In short: A respectful update; a peanut butter and jelly cast; clean, but abundant special effects; good and plenty action & humor; fluid story & presentation; worth full price admission.