The Mummy (1999)

/ reelvoice2013

“The Mummy” (1999) The_mummy

For my second film concerning Halloween and the subject of scary movies, I chose “The Mummy” starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.  While it isn’t exactly a Horror movie, it concerns a classic movie monster.  It also isn’t a remake of the 1932 classic starring Boris Karloff in the titular role.  This film contains action, a fair dose of comedy, and some great special effects.  It is easily recommended for PG audiences, though the violence contained within probably suits a PG-13 rating better.

The film takes a little bit of real history and mixes it with pure Hollywood magic.  The end result is a fun film with lots of excitement and some great characters.  At no point in this movie will any Horror film fan being scared though.  It definitely lacks that content.  Yes, the Mummy (played wonderfully by Peter Vosloo) does kill people and yes, he is pretty gruesome upon first seeing him.  One of the greatest “updates” to this film though is the action in the story.  Much of that action is centered on the Mummy’s fantastic powers and his ability to call forth the 7 plagues of Egypt.

Brendan Fraser plays the rough-and-tumble adventurer/mercenary Rick O’Connell whose fate becomes entwined with a quirky librarian (Weisz) and her fortune-seeking brother (played by John Hannah).  These 3 characters carry the movie with wit and humor through almost every scene.  Honestly, the film would have been a dud if not for the acting of these 3 professionals.  Some of the supporting cast you may recognize, but they also had some well-written parts to play.  The bulk of the film is classic adventure.  To summarize, an undead creature has risen and seeks the lives of those responsible for taking his beloved’s sacred canopic jars from an ancient treasure city that he protects from would-be thieves.

It’s a fun film, really.  It has a compelling storyline, and some great action sequences.  While the film may not rank as a must-see of Halloween favorites, it certainly is worth a watch.  How many times has a mummy movie been done?  I can think of at least 5 more before this one, and this one launched a franchise that has 3 to its credit so far.  Apparently, mummies are pretty popular among movie-going audiences.  If the film has a down-side it is that the comedy of the film outweighs the potential Horror elements.  That seemed to work with this particular film though as this was easily one of the highest-grossing films of 1999.  Mummies don’t seem quite so frightening to many of us these days, but once upon a time, they captivated the world over.  They still do in museums throughout the world today, but they just don’t frighten us.  That may be because they don’t have the juicy gore and guts that many other undead do.  By comparison, think of any zombie movie and all the grotesque effects they show.  See what I mean?

So, I recommend this film to all families looking for some light-hearted Halloween fun, but don’t expect any spine-tingling chills.

More to come this month!

…and that’s it for this edition of THE REEL VOICE

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