Old Fashioned Matinee Fun!

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2001)

This is a thoroughly modernized "Mummy" which benefits from all of the marvels of modern technology, (the film, that is, although the Mummy himself is a much more healthy and robust fellow than in the '30s original- once he has regenerated to fulfill his curse), making for an exciting, interesting and entertaining movie.
The Mummy is much more of an adventure story (along the lines of the Indiana Jones films) than the tired, plodding retreads we have all come to expect from Hollywood these days. The technical effects alone really make it quite worth watching. The story, though familiar, is retold with imagination, wit and indeed some intellectual curiosity.
Brandon Fraser comports himself very well as the adventurer/hero (although what he was doing with the French Foreign Legion, or a Cairo jail some years later, in the opening scenes is never really explained- but that's a minor detail). The heroine is not just the helpless fussy female for comic relief (as with the "Temple of Doom" or those Michael Douglas movies with Danny DiVito); she is a scholar, and plays pivotal roles in the story and plot.
The movie starts out in ancient Egypt, showing who the Mummy was (is) and why he was cursed. The opening of the tomb, invoking of the curse, and prevention of the end of the world follow in short order. There are chases, narrow escapes and mysterious strangers; there are some surprises too, and the special effects (through gruesome, and heavily dependent upon insects) are remarkable.
Rent it; it's good fun.