based on the boris karloff 's classic by the same name , the mummy starts off with the high - priest of osiris , imhotep , who murders the pharoah for his mistress and is punished by being mummified in the most horrifying way possible -- bandaged up , having his tongue removed , and being covered in flesh - eating scarab beetles , then entombed . . .
all while still alive .
recap a few thousand years later , where a soldier named rick ( played by brandan fraser ) aids a young historian named evelyn ( played by rachel wiesz ) and her brother , jonathan ( played by john hannah ) in finding the book of amon ra , in the process inadvertently freeing the mummy .
problem is that the mummy wants to revive his mistress , using evelyn as a sacrifice . . . walking in with relatively low expectations , i thought this movie was actually pretty good .
the visuals and cgi are astounding , and obviously not cheaply done at all .
they pack a ton of detail into the images , especially during scenes involving mummies rendered completely by cgi .
the computer special effects makes for some brilliant scenes , such as unnerving moments involving flesh - eating scarab beetles and moments where the mummy goes after the people who freed him ( after all , those who took his artifacts are cursed ) .
unfortunately , the film attempts to be way too much in such a short span of time , becoming a tug of war for control between genres .
on one hand , it is a fast paced action film .
on the other , it 's a frightening horror film .
and on the side , it 's a hilarious comedy .
ideally , for it to be successful , the film would have to focus on one the more action oriented aspect , with one character serving as the comic relief ( that would be johnson ) .
the problem with this film is that it has at least three characters serving as comic relief , with rick occasionally delivering his witty one - liner . if they were trying to make a horror - action - comedy , it would have helped if it were established early on in the film , but unfortunately , with the backstory of imhotep 's entombment , that would be impossible .
and then there 's the slapstick fight scene between a sword - wielding rick and an army of mummies .
while really well done , it had the feel of slapstick comedy .
replace the sword with a chainsaw and you 'd effectively have ash fighting zombies in army of darkness .
while entertaining and funny , it feels really out of place .
but at least it 's a break from the naive heroes
that brendan fraser has been playing a lot of .
on the whole , the movie is pure popcorn fare from beginning to end , entertaining the audience .
but i must end my review with a plea to movie theatre owners . . .
turn the sound down !
while a lot of theatres have good sound systems , my ears were almost ringing as i walked out of the theatre ( the sound is particularly irritating and will make you crap your pants if you 're not careful ) .
when they were showing the trailer for the upcoming schwarzenegger film , " end of days " , it was so loud
i could n't make anything out .
pack a ton of detail it 's a break from the naive heroes are astounding makes for some brilliant scenes entertaining the audience not cheaply done at all this movie was actually pretty good