Formula: (Congo x Army of Darkness) + Raiders of the Lost Ark - Good writing

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 1999)

You take the first rate production values (and lame script) of "Congo;" mix in the undead, book of the dead that is accidentally used to release the villain, & the goofy protagonist of "Army of Darkness" and have everyone convince themselves they're doing the next Indiana Jones movie. Half bake for 2 hours and you've got "The Mummy." This movie is to Raiders what ID4 was Star Wars: Lame junk that may vaguely remind you of a classic while making a mint based solely on top notch special effects.
What's good about the movie: Likable cast and great CGI. Set Design is top drawer as well. Also if you have kids it will scare them without traumatizing them for life. Most of the grisly action takes place off screen or in silhouette.
What's not so good: Brendan Fraser plays his usual goofy guy that people loved in "George of the Jungle." He also (like Chris O'Donnell in "In Love and War") cannot play a non-contemporary character. This fact is really another caveat (however unintentional) to Bruce Campbell's hero in "Army of Darkness. Fraser is not alone in his plight however, as every American character in the supporting cast would be hard to believe as a person from 1975 let alone 1925. Luckily they are all so non-descript and are killed off so quickly you'll have to think hard to remember any of them.
The action scenes are done like a video game. Fraser runs around with two guns that hold impossibly large quantities of bullets shooting everything that moves. These types of scenes are really exciting when done with style like John Woo, however, that never happens in this movie. The hand to hand combat also reminded me of playing Double Dragon on my old Nintendo system. The moment where you actually suspend your disbelief and worry that the hero won't succeed never occurs.

The supporting cast is mostly unremarkable. Rachel Weisz (the poor man's Helena Bonham Carter) is quite beautiful but so are the Rocky Mountains and she lacks their depth. It's not really fair to put her down that way, let's just say she's equal to the material she has to work with.
Kevin J. O'Conner just does an ethnic version of the same character he played in writer/director Stepehn Sommers' last opus "Deep Rising." (I suppose he is Toshiro Mifune to Sommers' Kurosawa.) Granted Mr. O'Connor is reprising a role from a movie no one saw and he plays it well so I guess he could actually qualify as a highlight. He certainly is trotted out whenever they need comic relief. As a bonus to fans of "Bewitched" Dr. Bombay also makes an appearance as a WW1 bi-plane pilot.
In the final analysis, this certainly isn't a bad film...just dopey. Remove the digital effects and it's a Roger Corman movie. Unlike the effects heavy Matrix there is not a single innovative idea to be enjoyed. This movie will linger with you about as long as it takes you to digest your popcorn into what the script was from the beginning.