Formulaic and half-hearted

Rating: 5/10 (17 March 2011)

Oh dear! Perhaps the genre has seen too many serious attempts in the past for any producer to contemplate another. If we grade the handling of the subject and its commitment, regarding either Abbott and Costello or the Marx Bros Meet the Curse of the Pharoah at 1, to Indiana Jones at 10, this film comes in at about 4. I found myself disenchanted at the lack of any form of intellectual content, with minimal lip-service being paid to the scholarship in Egyptology. The characters are largely pantomime, with stereotypical roles and attitudes. Spoof-laden, most of the scenes are (I hope, intentionally) played for laughs, an especially irritating strategy which undermines all attempts to make any convincing characterisations - not that there are any genuine attempts, or characters, for that matter. The pace of the film is generally too fast, a feature which also contributes to its overall superficiality. Top marks for securing the services of Jerry Goldsmith, however. The music is truly worthy of a much greater film.