one of the quintessential action-comedy movies and a lot of fun

Rating: 9/10 (8 March 2008)

"The Mummy" is exactly the kind of science-fiction action picture that I tend to enjoy. It is one of those rare cases where thrills are combined with jokes that ultimately create a realistic and authentistic sense for the atmosphere of the picture and proves itself to be a great roller coaster of a ride without ever becoming too scary or too funny to become schlock, boring, or even uninteresting. It plays itself perfectly, lasts exactly as long as it should, has the right amount of jokes (intelligent jokes), great characters, an interesting plot if not original, and is overall a lot of fun.
"The Mummy" stars Brandon Fraser as a young adventurer-gunfighter who has visited the sacred Egyptian city of Hammunaptra, which is guarded by a secret society who believe that a cursed mummy lies beneath the sands and if awakened, would be unstoppable. Fraser returns to Hammunaptra with a naive, but intelligence librarian and her brother, and oppose a rival company of Americans seeking treasure. Sooner or later, as the secret society feared, the mummy is awaken and great danger is set loose in the world.
The special effects utilized in "The Mummy" are utterly convincing. Arnold Vosloo played the mummy in both skin and mummy form and it was up to the special effects team to elaborately convert him into this ugly, contorted, and frightening villain with holes and bugs in him. The mummy mostly roars like a monster, necessarily, and when needed, he talks in a growling, low-pitch voice that makes him scary. And no mortal weapon can kill him, making him a tricky foe to conquer. And of course, he's got his humble servants: more mummies. Not invincible like him, but still effectively brought to the screen.
"The Mummy" also features a fair deal of action scenes, most of them gunfights. The body count in the film is considerably high, and I'm talking about people as well as resurrected mummies. Because it's a fun part-comedy adventure ride, it does not take the matter of life and death seriously. So if a civilian ends up having to shoot a man dead, it does not seem to have an ever-lasting effect on them, but it should not. That would slow the pacing down and destroy the overall effect of the movie. And yes, some of the fight scenes were a bit ridiculous. Yes, I noticed Brandon Fraser firing a six-shot revolver more than six times without reloading, but seriously, who cares? How many times has that been done before? Dozens. We glance over them, so we can glance over this.
Again, this is exactly the kind of film I enjoy. Even critics who found some not-so-positive things to say about "The Mummy" admitted that they were never bored with it. And neither was I. It is a quintessential thrill ride full of adventure, laughs, and lots of fun. Overall, it's entertaining.