The Mummy (1999)
1999
PG-13
124 Minutes
Dashing legionnaire Rick O'Connell stumbles upon the hidden ruins of Hamunaptra while in the midst of a battle to claim the area in 1920s Egypt. It has been over three thousand years since former H...
User Review
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The Mummy is the remake of Universal's original horror film. Whilst the original was a horror film, this is more of an adventure flick with some horror elements. I grew up watching this film, I've seen it multiple times and every time I watch it I just never get bored. Now that, is a true testament to a film. It is evident that Stephen Sommers borrowed ideas from Indiana Jones, including its campy tone, and to be honest it's all the better for it. They just don't make adventure films like these anymore. We have an enthralling story full of lore and culture. The Mummy itself isn't just a relentless creature wanting to kill, there is actually back story and a purpose to his plan which was a smart move from Sommers. The acting all round is pretty solid, Brendan Fraser is charismatic and an all round Indiana Jones imitation. Rachel Weisz surprised me, not her typical role but hey I thought she brought the humanity that was needed into the story. Several American characters are just there to be expendable and aren't really memorable. Arnold Vosloo as the titular villain had a commanding presence and was an excellent casting choice. The production design was outstanding, the props and settings that were built were creative and definitely beats green screen all the way...authenticity is important! The visual effects were great for its time, some look slightly dated now but on the whole it's pretty decent. The script is hit and miss for me, some of the one liners felt forced and didn't always work...but I can see they were trying to hark back to classic adventure films. The horror scenes that were included definitely elevated the experience, and scared the living bejeezus out of me when I was a child. Some may not like this remake's genre change from a straight up horror to an adventure, but if you can get past this then you are in for a great flick that remains as one of the 90's best family films.1 member likes this review.
