“For the record, if I don’t make it out of here, don’t put me down for mummification.”
Universal Pictures has attempted to revive its classic Universal Monsters lineup in recent years. The Wolfman (2010), The Mummy (2017), and Dracula Untold (2014) have all been met with mixed reviews. In fact, The Mummy was such a bomb at the box office that Universal shelved its planned “Dark Universe” indefinitely. In 2020 the company revived The Invisible Man as a terrifying tale of domestic abuse and it worked extremely well. Since then, however, not much has been said about Universal’s plans for their classic monsters.
Despite the recent failures of Universal, things were looking up at the turn of the century. In 1999, Stephen Sommers gave the world his vision of The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, and Kevin J. O’Connor. Despite a lukewarm reception from many professional critics, the film proved to be popular with general audiences. In fact, it was number one at the box office for twelve straight days and dropped to second place only due to the fact that the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released. The film would remain in the top ten until August 1st, when it dropped to the twelfth spot on the charts. It remained in the top twenty list until it was pulled from theaters in late September. The film would spawn two sequels, a prequel entitled The Scorpion King (2002) which would in turn spawn its own sequels, and an animated series.
The film took the original 1932 story about the forbidden love of Imhotep and Anck-su-namun, injected a lot more action and humor, and utilized heavy (and relatively new) CGI effects to bring the Mummy to life. It also added a heroic lead in the character of Rick O’Connell, an American adventurer who agrees to lead a brother and sister to the ancient city of Hamunaptra, and a group of American treasure hunters hellbent on discovering the riches hidden in Hamunaptra.
In the movie, O’Connell leads Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan to Hamunaptra. Jonathan is looking for treasure while Evelyn, or Evie for short, is there for historical research. A second group, composed of the aforementioned Americans, is guided by Beni, a shifty and opportunistic man who fought alongside Rick in the French Foreign Legion. The American group discovers the forbidden Book of the Dead and a set of jars that contain the organs of Anck-su-namun. Rick’s group discover the “juicy” body of Imhotep. The two groups are attacked by the Medjai, men sworn to prevent the resurrection of Imhotep, and are told to leave Hamunaptra before it is too late. Instead, Evie reads scripture from the Book of the Dead and unintentionally revives Imhotep, sending Egypt into a new round of Biblical plagues as the Mummy begins collecting organs from the Americans to reform himself and eventually revive Anck-su-namun. Rick, Jonathan, Evie, and the leader of the Medjai, Ardeth Bey, attempt to stop Imhotep from fully renewing his body and attempting to revive his forbidden lover. Imhotep ultimately traps the group and Evie gives herself over to him to be used as the sacrificial body for Anck-su-namun’s resurrection ritual in order to save her friends. Imhotep sends his slaves to murder them, however, but they escape and head back to Hamunaptra to save Evie and kill Imhotep. Watch the film to find out what happens next!
I love this movie. It is essentially a combination of the horror elements in the classic The Mummy film and the action of the classic adventure serials that were released during the same era. So basically, it takes two of my favorite things and puts them together on a much larger scale. Think Raiders Of The Lost Ark but with monsters, lots of undead monsters. The action is fast-paced and the horror, while definitely not too terrifying, lingers throughout the movie and neither get in the way of one another. The CGI hasn’t aged very well in a few sequences but it isn’t that bad. The cinematography is top-notch, especially the moments shot in the Sahara Desert. The desert is absolutely beautiful. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is perfect and places the viewer in the heart of Egypt (although Marrakech was used as Cairo). Stephen Sommers struck gold with this film!
The cast was excellent as well. Brendan Fraser was perfectly cast as Rick O’Connell and he had amazing chemistry with Rachel Weisz. Weisz gives off a perfect blend of nerdy, sexy, and heroic in Evie and I’ve had a crush on her ever since originally seeing this film in the theater. John Hannah and Kevin J. O’Connor provide plenty of laughs as Evie’s brother, Jonathan, and the conniving Beni, respectively. Oded Fehr won me over as Ardeth Bey (and fans of the original Mummy film will catch the reference of his name). The American group is made up of some amazing character actors, most notably Jonathan Hyde as Dr. Chamberlain and Corey Johnson as David Daniels. Omid Djalili, Erick Avari, and Bernard Fox also have excellent brief roles in the film. As for Imhotep and Anck-su-namun, Arnold Vosloo and Patricia Velasquez were excellent. Velasquez has a small role in the film but she quickly establishes that she will do anything to save her lover. Vosloo is a striking man in the film and he marches about (once fully resurrected) as a monster intent on reviving his lost love.
Stephen Sommers would attempt to revive even more Universal Monsters with his 2004 Hugh Jackman vehicle, Van Helsing. Despite opening at number one and eventually making just over three hundred million dollars, the film failed to connect with audiences and Sommers’ future with Universal was put on hold. I personally enjoyed the film. It was a loud adventure with over-the-top acting.
The Mummy is wonderful. It was a wonderful adventure film with just enough horror to keep viewers on their toes. It’s also arguably one of the best action films of the 1990s. More than anything, it made me fall in love with Rachel Weisz!
Thanks for catching up on this late 90s classic with me. See you again, soon!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 