Review: The Mummy
Posted on December 27, 2006
Filed Under Reviews
Year: 1999
Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah
Kaboom Review Action Movie Rating: 82
Plot
An adventurer, a librarian, and her treasure-seeking brother awaken a powerful mummy in the ancient Egyptian city of Hamunaptra.
Quick Review
This is a fun, fast-paced action movie, and a credit to the genre. We happily give it a Kaboom Review Bronze Explosion Award, and highly recommend it.
Full Review
The Mummy starts off with a campy, fast-paced bang and sweeps you along for more than two hours of escapist fun. There is simply a lot to like about this movie.
Good action movies should rivet you to the screen, and The Mummy opens in 
ancient Egypt with a quick summary of the background to the mummy’s entombment, and then jumps forward to 1923AD to start the main story with a brisk skirmish at the ancient city of Hamunaptra. From start to finish, the movie does a fantastic job of keeping action scenes purposeful and entertaining. The pacing is outstanding, driven by a simple yet effective plot. No scene dawdles, and the special effects interjected in the movie all are tied to the story and action in such a way as to enhance the overall viewing experience. It’s rare to find a movie that has been edited with such attention to detail in terms of action and special effects.
The acting is corny at times, but convincing and entertaining. The Mummy’s decent script calls for numerous one-liners and a number of humorous facial reactions on the part of the actors. In such cases, timing and inflexion can make the difference between funny and stupid. In the majority of cases, the actors in the Mummy get the job done well enough to induce a chuckle, or at worst a sigh. Brendan Fraser, as the heroic Rick O’Connell, leads the way here, but 
he gets a lot of support from the rest of the cast. Rachel Weisz, as a clumsy librarian, and John Hannah, as her worthless brother, both do a solid job in their major roles. Arnold Vosloo plays a convincing mummy; with special effects enhancements, we get an awesome villain. Lastly, Kevin O’Connor, as a shifty scoundrel, and Oded Fehr, as a desert raider, deserve special mention in their supporting roles.
The movie also does a good job of staying within its premise. Within the first few minutes, The Mummy establishes an element of both tongue-in-cheek humor and makes it clear that this is a world of supernatural curses capable of animating the dead. The Mummy for the most part stays within these barriers, although the climax and a few minor scenes go beyond the established limits to a degree.
The movie does have some weak spots, however, and the climax is clearly one of them. Although the culminating battle is satisfying with its great pacing and solid special effects, it fails in that the powerful mummy seems to become both stupid and relatively weak. The humor at the end goes overboard as well. This isn’t a movie-breaker, but it does put some chinks in an otherwise outstanding movie. Also, the movie kills off the stunning, scantily clad Patricia Velasquez in the first couple of minutes! What were they thinking? You’ve got a drop-dead gorgeous woman dressed in, well, nothing, and you only give her a minor role? Silly, silly, silly. Overall, from a babe perspective, the movie only gives us Rachel Weisz, who is passably cute but hardly stunning.
Still, these weaknesses are minor compared to the overall quality of The Mummy. This is a fun, fast-paced action movie, and a credit to the genre. We happily give it a Kaboom Review Bronze Explosion Award, and highly recommend it.
Fun Fact
The mummy-possessed townsfolk chant “Ohwhatanarseyouare” instead of the correct Egyptian phrase.
Related Reviews
The Mummy Returns, Scorpion King
Purchasing Info
The most economical way to get this DVD is by purchasing it in the The Mummy Collector’s Set, which includes The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and Scorpion King.
Score
Pace: 89
Plot: 81
Action: 94
Consistent Premise: 79
Script/Quotes: 50
Characters: 82
Acting: 70
Villain: 88
Body Count: 65
Time to First Dead Body: fast
Babes: 56
Hunks: 74
Explosions: 68
Special Effects: 91
Stunts: 25
Ending: 48
Overall: 84 (Bronze Explosion Award Winner)
Comments
6 Responses to “Review: The Mummy”
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Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day
Hi Florian,
Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the compliment! I’m glad you like the blog. There is still a lot of work to be done, though. It really needs some “about” pages, a bio, and tons more reviews. But it’s been fun so far, full speed ahead!
GB
P.S. I like your blog as well (I took a quick peek), but I’m afraid I couldn’t read the language (German?). The design is cool, though!
I love that movie, The Mummy, it’s totally aswome!
Nicole: Yes, but you know, I think I liked Scorpion King the most of the three movies in the trilogy. At some point in the near future, I hope to write a review of that movie as well.
Hi, Mummy is very good film.I love Mummy and Brendon fraser and Rachel waysz.Do you think so to?Than you pyders.
mummy and mummy returns es fantastik!!!!!!!!!!!!! patricia velasquez you es beautiful !!!yuo es an god girls!!¨¨!I es an you fan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! smack kiss kiss hallo beautiful girls!!!!!!!!! (am..sorry I es swizzerland I speak no english)!!!!!!by melina-.!!kiss