Adventure Movies Don't Get Much More Fun Than This
Nerdy Up North
The setup
Adventurer Rick O'Connell joins librarian Evelyn Carnahan and her brother Jonathan on an expedition to the ancient city of Hamunaptra, where they accidentally awaken the cursed high priest Imhotep and unleash a supernatural plague.
The Mummy is one of those films that makes everything look easy. It is funny without becoming a full comedy, creepy without becoming proper horror and romantic without stopping the adventure every ten minutes.
Brendan Fraser is ridiculously likeable as Rick O'Connell. He can throw punches, deliver a joke and look genuinely terrified when something supernatural happens. Rachel Weisz is every bit as important as Evelyn because she is clever, enthusiastic and actually drives huge parts of the story instead of just being the person Rick has to rescue.
Arnold Vosloo is great as Imhotep as well. The effects around him have aged in places, but the performance underneath gives the character enough presence that he never becomes just a CGI monster.
John Hannah steals nearly every scene he gets as Jonathan. The film knows exactly when it needs somebody to undercut the danger with a joke, and he is normally the one doing it.
There are horror moments that genuinely got under my skin as a kid. The scarabs crawling underneath skin are horrible, and the half regenerated Imhotep is still a fantastic monster design.
The whole thing has that late-90s adventure film confidence where everybody looks like they are actually in a desert getting filthy rather than standing in front of a giant LED wall.
The Mummy is comfort viewing for me. It is not trying to reinvent cinema. It is just incredibly good at being fun and was a Bi awakening for a whole generation.
Positives
Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have brilliant chemistry, the supporting cast is great, loads of practical adventure atmosphere and a perfect mix of action, comedy and horror.
Negatives
Some CGI has aged and the final act leans more heavily on effects than the strongest parts of the film.
Verdict
The Mummy is the sort of blockbuster I wish we still got more often: funny, adventurous, slightly scary and carried by characters you actually want to spend time with.
