Review of The Mummy (1999) by Jack G — 27 Apr 2016

Oh Lord, what have I done, what has come over me?! I've given 'The Mummy' of all films a rating of 4/5! Okay, so I could go back and edit my score, but why should I? It's been over a decade and (for some reason) what actually feels like another lifetime since I watched this film (shortly after its release) back in the days when DVD was the revolutionary format in home video entertainment. I recall liking it back then through the eyes of youth. But having watched it again now on Blu-Ray (which looks and sounds very nice), I expected it to crumble under my matured and refined eyes, but to my surprise I found myself enjoying it every bit as much as I once did back in my mid-to-late teens.

'The Mummy' strikes the right balance of good old fashioned fun, entertainment, action, humour, period setting, light history, and pacing. If there is one thing that makes the 'The Mummy' such a good movie, it's that the cast and filmmakers were clearly having fun making it, and this energy definitely transpires on to the screen and final product.

Brendan Fraser pulls off the swashbuckling anti-hero and gels well with clumsy eccentric Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah provides some appropriate quirky humour. The other cast do a good job too. The actor playing the character of 'Benny' is effective as the cravenly humorous but mostly innocuous and bumbling rival to Brendan Fraser's rogue-ish cool and suarve. The Mummy itself is a decent baddie and builds a sense of threat and danger as the film progresses. Also the CGI hasn't aged too badly, either.

In summary, 'The Mummy' is such a blast and fun film to watch, and is more than worthy of the Indianna Jones references/comparisons. Sadly the same can't be said of its two lacklustre sequels. 4/5.