THE MUMMY (1999)
There is a joy in revisiting an old friend. The Mummy is perfectly aware of what it is: a throwback to a fantastical adventure. Full of vim and vigor, with heaping helpings of humor, The Mummy is longer than it should be but nonetheless fun.
In long-ago ancient Egypt, the High Priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) has been having an affair with Ank-sun-amun (Patricia Velasquez), the Pharoah's mistress. Discovered, Ank-sun-Amun kills the Pharoah before killing herself. Imhotep, having fled the capital, spirits her body to the mystical city of Hamunaptra to bring her back to life. Again discovered, Imhotep is punished with the worst curse: Hom-Dai, buried alive.
Now in 1926, librarian Evelyn Carnahan (Rachiel Weisz) is desperate to show off her Egyptologist credentials but keeps tripping over herself. She is none too pleased when her equally bright but lazier and greedier brother Jonathan (John Hannah) brings what she thinks is another trinket. However, she realizes that it is a key that also carries a map to Hamunaptra. Unfortunately, Jonathan "borrowed" the key from American Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), a former Foreign Legion member and all-around scoundrel about to be hanged. Evie's interest is archeological. Jonathan's interest is financial. O'Connell's interest is staying alive.
Together, they join forces to rediscover Hamunaptra, which O'Connell has actually been to. Unfortunately, they are hampered by O'Connell's frenemy Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor), who was also with O'Connell at Hamunaptra and has brought a trio of treasure seeking Americans to find the lost City of the Dead. The group has muddled their way to revive Imhotep, who now will kill everyone involved in his resurrection and use them to bring Ank-sun-Amun back. Imhotep soon starts dispatching everyone who gets in his way save Beni, who has become his willing slave to save himself. The Magi, a group of desert warriors who have sworn to keep Imhotep in eternal slumber, is displeased by this motley group of bumbling Americans and half-British half-Egyptian adventurers. Reluctantly, the Magi's leader, Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr) joins forces with them to stop Imhotep. It will take Evelyn's smarts and O'Connell's fists to defeat The Mummy, but will they be able to stop Imhotep before he destroys the world?
One of, if not perhaps, the best decision The Mummy made was to set it in the past. By setting it in the 1920's, the audience is allowed to see The Mummy as good old-fashioned fun, a fully-fledged fantasy that is meant to be a delightful romp. The Mummy is meant to be a bit scary but nothing that would be downright terrifying. Instead, The Mummy is clearly meant to be good, escapist fare.
We see this with the various sight gags and funny lines that The Mummy has. The Mummy starts very seriously, with Fehr's Ardeth Bey giving grand voiceover to set up the plot. Once we get to 1926, however, things blend between light and safely dark. Our introduction to Evie is her bumbling through the Museum of Antiquities' library, where she manages to demolish the bookshelves when trying to reshelve a book on the opposite side of where she stood on a long ladder. When searching for the source of a strange noise, she hesitantly calls out, "Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?".
The Mummy never takes itself too seriously, which is a reason why it is so successful as entertainment. In the middle of the various deaths the characters, particularly the trio of O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan, are allowed many moments of humor. Facing almost certain death at the hands of Imhotep's minions, he immediately begins mimicking their zombie-like "Imhotep" chant, reducing them to brainless followers and allowing him to escape. Another time, one of them quips, "Americans", when the Yanks are shooting off the various Magi attempting to stop their expedition.
A good, albeit small, comic bit comes from Bernard Fox's addled Captain Winston Havelock. The old flyer, sad that he has outlived all his comrades from the Great War, is asked by O'Connell to help them fly to Hamunaptra. Why should Winston take His Majesty's plane out? "Rescue the damsel in distress. Kill the bad guy. Save the world," is O'Connell's response.
The Mummy is almost downright brilliant in doing what contemporary Hollywood struggles with now. It presents a positive female character as well as a heroic male one. Evelyn is bright and unafraid, if perhaps a bit naive and focused on the wrong things. One character dismisses Evelyn when they are at Hamunaptra, remarking "After all, what would a woman know?"; we the audience already know that not only is Evie far more intelligent than everyone else but that she is on the right track because of her vast studies. Later on, when she correctly translates a misinterpreted hieroglyphic, she gleefully calls out, "Take THAT, Pembridge scholars!", almost oblivious to the horde of zombies about to storm the museum.
Evie is a strong, positive female character long before the age of the girl boss. When facing off against a fully revived Imhotep, Beni translates the mummy's words, ending with saying that she will be his "Forever". Without batting an eye and clearly frustrated, Evie corrects him with a terse "For all eternity, idiot".
That is the quality in Rachel Weisz's performance. Long before she became a "serious actress", Weisz showed us that she could be breezy, sweet, clever and amusing. Weisz makes Evie into an intelligent woman, but one who is also not above finding the charms of Brendan Fraser's Rick O'Connell.
The same can be said for Fraser. He makes Rick O'Connell a shameless rogue, looking out for Number One who transforms into someone in love with this bright but innocent woman. He is masculine and brave, able to fisticuff with the best of them. However, Fraser also never once dismisses or looks down on Evelyn. He actually is almost always respectful and defers to her knowledge. There is their first meeting when he forces a kiss on her, though in his defense he was about to be executed by hanging.
Hannah, better known for drama, was fun as the good-natured but opportunistic Jonathan. He is shamelessly greedy for treasure. However, he is fiercely loyal to and protective of his sister. O'Connor's weaselly Beni, with his high-pitched voice and squirrely manner, makes him a bumbling threat.
Everyone plays his or her part correctly, taking the premise seriously without being too serious. The one possible exception is Fehr, who plays Ardath Bey very seriously. That, however, works within the film, his extreme seriousness almost a counter to the lighthearted manner around him.
A surprising element in The Mummy is how it ties itself to of all things, the Bible. Imhotep's rise unleashes the Ten Plagues of Egypt mentioned in Exodus, which Jonathan quotes when seeing them. When Beni attempts to save himself from Imhotep, he pulls out various charms and quotes from their specific holy scriptures as the Mummy slowly comes at him. It is only when he pulls out a Star of David and begins speaking Hebrew that Imhotep stops, recognizing it as "the language of the slaves". This again connects The Mummy to that of Hebrews from the Old Testament.
I think this was done by writer/director Stephen Sommers (who shares story credit with Lloyd Fonvielle and Kevin Jarre) to make The Mummy if not relatable at least to tie it to a story most audiences know or are aware of. The Mummy, in short, is not afraid to reference, even obliquely, the Biblical story of Exodus. It is also unafraid to show a strong man, an intelligent woman and how they complement and like each other.
I think it benefits greatly by keeping a lot of the violence off-screen, using shadows to show the killings a few times. There is some violence that might scare younger audiences, but for the most part the threats are manageable and in a fantasy setting.
The Mummy has strong visual effects work that hold up twenty-five years later. It has a fun and breezy manner that moves things along. It does have a flaw that it is perhaps longer than it should be, running a little over two hours. One wonders if cutting out or trimming characters and situations would have made things go faster and smoother.
Perhaps the worse element is when one of the Americans, Mr. Burns (Tuc Watkins), loses his glasses. We get that tired routine of "character without glasses suddenly becomes blind". Someone does not instantly lose his or her sight without their glasses. Things become fuzzy, perhaps indistinguishable, but they do not automatically lose their sight. That bit always bothers me no matter the circumstances.
That is a minor point. The Mummy as a whole is filled with action, adventure and romance. It is fun, breezy and does not take itself too seriously without winking at the camera. It takes the premise seriously, but also has fun with it. Unashamed to give audiences a blend of lightness and danger, with strong acting and a good story, The Mummy is a great success and a good time.
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