The Screen Scribe

After watching the Mask of Zorro last week I got the urge to dust off another favourite classic adventure film, The Mummy. Like Zorro, The Mummy is a light-hearted adventure and the kind of fun, escapist film that Hollywood just doesn’t seem to care about anymore, and despite being released in 1999, The Mummy holds up against any of the soulless garbage the Hollywood seems to favour nowadays. The film solidified the star power of Brendan Fraser and was a significant breakthrough for Rachel Weisz, catapulting both to international stardom. Borrowing more than a few elements of Indiana Jones and structuring its plot around the tried-and-true concept of the heroes journey, The Mummy may not win any Oscars for best picture or best screenplay, but by God it’s a bloody fun film no matter how many times you watch it.

Set during the 1920s, the golden age of Egyptian exploration, The Mummy follows aspiring Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan and her brother Jonathan as they recruit Foreign Legion deserter Rick O’Connell in their quest to locate the hidden Egyptian city of Hamunaptra. However, in a typical case of curiosity killed the cat, the adventurers unwittingly resurrect the mummified remains of disgraced priest Imhotep, who proceeds to unleash murder, mayhem and wanton destruction in his bid to reunite with his love and condemn the world to plagues and armies of undead.

Like many who grew up watching Indiana Jones, I have a soft spot for a good adventure film and The Mummy fits that bill. Much like the Indiana Jones films, The Mummy is at times ridiculous and goofy but at all times fun and entertaining. Brendan Fraser was born to play the role of Rick O’Connell, truly inhabiting the jaded, cynical but caring character and clearly has a blast doing so. His excellent chemistry with Rachel Weisz, playing librarian and aspiring archaeologist Evie Carnahan, enhances the otherwise stereotypical archetypes that populate the rest of the cast but again, they never fall into boring caricatures and have just enough personality to stand out. Imhotep is a suitably madcap villain for a resurrected mummy but never strays into the realms of goofy. He is dangerous make no doubt and demonstrates his lethality regularly to the detriment of all concerned. But the charm of the film is that it manages to blend the classic Indiana Jones aspects of monsters, curses and general mayhem with a self-awareness of its roots that compliments both without overpowering one another. It never takes itself too seriously but never strays into the realms of farce that it could easily have done.

Rife with gunfights, fistfights, sword fights and curses galore, The Mummy is two hours of sheer fun for both fans of this genre but also for the casual viewer looking for an easy watch to disengage the brain. With a light tone and quippy dialogue, The Mummy is a well-directed and expertly shot film that has aged remarkably in comparison to the action flicks of modern cinema and holds up twenty-five years later. This is the kind of escapist fun that Hollywood used to be good at but in recent decades has lost its love for. God knows why. I can wholeheartedly recommend The Mummy and trust me, its two hours you won’t regret.

(Images owned by and courtesy of Youtube)