25 years ago, Universal released their own remake of their 1932 horror film The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser in the lead role. In spite of the feature's mixed critical reception, it was a huge commercial hit and spawned two sequels, a prequel and a short lived animated series. Looking back on the film now, it stands well enough as one of the typical action summer blockbusters made when CGI was dominating that market. As for how it holds up nowadays on its own, while not all that different from the average blockbuster of its day, there's just enough to enjoy from its entertainment value alone.
The film follows adventurer Rick O'Connell who travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother, only to accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers. As an adventure film, there's plenty of cliches to go around surrounding O'Connell partnering up with Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan, the former of whom is both an aspiring Egyptologist and an obvious love interest from the get go. That being said, this is meant to be an Indiana Jones inspired adventure epic complete with high scaled action, swordplay, and dodging dangerous obstacles, and this movie has plenty of it all. While nowhere near as sharply engaging or funny as the better Indiana Jones movies, the tribute is still there and it makes the horror elements work well enough with the sets and effects shown throughout the feature. Many plot points are predictable as popcorn, but anything to keep the story on its feet is fine by me. The film is somewhat self aware enough to know that its story is more about the show than the substance, and it works well in the end.
In addition to Brendan Fraser serving as the perfect swashbuckling lead who doesn't always take himself too seriously, the cast make the most out of the otherwise cheesy material. Rachel Weisz in particular is impeccably sharp witted and beautifully bold as Evelyn, and the bumbling chemistry between her brother Johnathan is often funnier than John Hannah's admittedly corny performance. Kevin J. O'Connor also makes for delightfully cowardice as the greedy yet pathetic Beni Gabor and the accompaniment of Jonathan Hyde as Dr. Allen Chamberlain and his men allow for much needed tension when the rival team is searching for the same treasure as our heroes. Lastly, Arnold Vosloo's straight laced presence as Imhotep still remains bone chilling and intimidating from start to finish, elevated even further by his spot on motion capture performance as the character in corpse ridden form. In a silly popcorn flick that mashes horror and comedy within its adventure, a cast of remarkable talent is just what's needed to keep things from losing steam too soon.
Now with the special effects being the main selling point for this movie, the phenomenal optical and digital work of ILM holds up today in varying degrees. On one hand, some mystical effects and character animation come off as dated from their rendering alone and there are numerous post production add ons that wouldn't be necessary when compared to the practical production design on display. That said, some of the supernatural elements like the flesh eating scarabs and Imhotep's reawakened minions are still frightening by design, and the insane amount of dedication to making these insane effects work well are no wonder the crew finished the film on the day of its premiere. Much of these effects are carried through the intensely powerful score of acclaimed film composer Jerry Goldsmith, complete with bombastic conduction and a mixing of traditional European orchestral and cinematic Egyptian melodies. Whether the effects hold up well or don't, the actual viewing experience of this film will be determined by all the well coordinated ambition displayed on screen.
As an epic action adventure film with horror and comedy mixed in for effect, The Mummy (1999) remains a fun staple of its time that can be enjoyed nowadays on its own for how much nostalgic value it offers. In a day and age where computerized effects have completely dominated filmmaking in more ways than one, seeing a big scale production like this at a time when the technology was still in its early years makes it stand out as a charming treasure from an older era. Whether you prefer this over the original 1932 film with Boris Karloff or the 2017 reboot with Tom Cruise, this one will be a good time for you.
The film follows adventurer Rick O'Connell who travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother, only to accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers. As an adventure film, there's plenty of cliches to go around surrounding O'Connell partnering up with Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan, the former of whom is both an aspiring Egyptologist and an obvious love interest from the get go. That being said, this is meant to be an Indiana Jones inspired adventure epic complete with high scaled action, swordplay, and dodging dangerous obstacles, and this movie has plenty of it all. While nowhere near as sharply engaging or funny as the better Indiana Jones movies, the tribute is still there and it makes the horror elements work well enough with the sets and effects shown throughout the feature. Many plot points are predictable as popcorn, but anything to keep the story on its feet is fine by me. The film is somewhat self aware enough to know that its story is more about the show than the substance, and it works well in the end.
In addition to Brendan Fraser serving as the perfect swashbuckling lead who doesn't always take himself too seriously, the cast make the most out of the otherwise cheesy material. Rachel Weisz in particular is impeccably sharp witted and beautifully bold as Evelyn, and the bumbling chemistry between her brother Johnathan is often funnier than John Hannah's admittedly corny performance. Kevin J. O'Connor also makes for delightfully cowardice as the greedy yet pathetic Beni Gabor and the accompaniment of Jonathan Hyde as Dr. Allen Chamberlain and his men allow for much needed tension when the rival team is searching for the same treasure as our heroes. Lastly, Arnold Vosloo's straight laced presence as Imhotep still remains bone chilling and intimidating from start to finish, elevated even further by his spot on motion capture performance as the character in corpse ridden form. In a silly popcorn flick that mashes horror and comedy within its adventure, a cast of remarkable talent is just what's needed to keep things from losing steam too soon.
Now with the special effects being the main selling point for this movie, the phenomenal optical and digital work of ILM holds up today in varying degrees. On one hand, some mystical effects and character animation come off as dated from their rendering alone and there are numerous post production add ons that wouldn't be necessary when compared to the practical production design on display. That said, some of the supernatural elements like the flesh eating scarabs and Imhotep's reawakened minions are still frightening by design, and the insane amount of dedication to making these insane effects work well are no wonder the crew finished the film on the day of its premiere. Much of these effects are carried through the intensely powerful score of acclaimed film composer Jerry Goldsmith, complete with bombastic conduction and a mixing of traditional European orchestral and cinematic Egyptian melodies. Whether the effects hold up well or don't, the actual viewing experience of this film will be determined by all the well coordinated ambition displayed on screen.
As an epic action adventure film with horror and comedy mixed in for effect, The Mummy (1999) remains a fun staple of its time that can be enjoyed nowadays on its own for how much nostalgic value it offers. In a day and age where computerized effects have completely dominated filmmaking in more ways than one, seeing a big scale production like this at a time when the technology was still in its early years makes it stand out as a charming treasure from an older era. Whether you prefer this over the original 1932 film with Boris Karloff or the 2017 reboot with Tom Cruise, this one will be a good time for you.