The Mummy: Review By Vamp

Okay, so ever since I first saw The Mummy Returns, the ENTIRE movie, I'd been searching to find someone who had this that'd let me borrow it, or buy it or whatever, and I'd had no luck whatsoever. At least, that was until I spent the night at my aunt and uncle's and they had the movie and let me, my sister, and my cousins watch it that night, of course I kept getting interuppted and didn't get it all, which sucked, so I kept bugging Mom that we needed to get it, so that I could watch it, and then one night, she told me to go grab her one of her favorite movies because she wanted to watch it, I think the movie she told me to get was Sleepless in Seattle, but I'm not sure. I opened up the cabinet, and there it was! The VHS version of The Mummy! I grabbed it, and made her watch it with me. Naturally, I was blown away, it was just as good as the first one was. Then, a few years down the line, I ended up buying the box set that comes with The Mummy/The Mummy Returns/The Scorpion King all on DVD. This was the movie that started the series, and, believe me, it was an epic movie!

The director of this movie, as well as one of the writers is Stephen Sommers, and what a movie he has brought us! I'm not really sure if it's a complete remake because I haven't seen enough of the orginal Mummy with Boris Karloff to know, but I DO know that the name of the mummy, and his love, are coinciding with eachother on both movies. This really was a vastly spooky movie, and an action-packed and hilarious one at the same time. Sommers did a great job with creating this movie and making it awesome. His directing was done superbly, and I'm not sure what other movies that he's directed, but this has to be one of his best. The other writers of this movie were Lloyd Fonvielle and Kevin Jarre, and together with Sommers they create one of the most brilliant movies that I've ever seen, and they do a wonderful job with it as well!

The visuals in this movie are something that I think are done very well. When ImHoTep is first found he's what's called "Still Juicy" and that's strange for a mummy that's over three thousand years old. However when he awakens the body is animated, and it's done very well if you ask me, it looks so realistic, even if it is something that's so far fetched, you can't help but look over your shoulder to make sure that there isn't a mummy behind you. Also, this mummy has different stages that he goes through, these stages of course are the stages of his rebirth into his normal body, so that he looks human again, even though he'll be immortal. Another thing that looks good is all the other mummies in it, they're all neat to see come to life. I also like all of the Egyptian scenery and the ancient Egytianesque way that everything looks. It's all so realistic and cool to see. Beautiful is a word I don't like to use, but it definitely describes the visuals in this movie.

The storyline, like I said I'm not sure if it's a total remake or not, but from what I've seen, is very original, as well as very spooky. It's definitely one of the best, as well as one of the only mummy movies that I've ever seen, and it's not as hokey as you'd think it'd be. It's got a powerful plotline, and a definitely awesome villain, with an equally awesome antagonist! It's all pulled together nicely too, and Stephen Sommers has definitely done a great job with this movie. Basically what happens is a woman stumbles upon a map to an ancient city, and when she wants to go there she finds someone whose actually been to this ancient and supposedly lost city, and so they go, but there they accidentally awaken a mummy and set a wrath on the earth that has been dead for over three thousand years. Now they must join forces with an ancient organization to stop the mummy, and put him down, dead and everything, for good. It starts out very awesome, and from that point you're hooked and can't stop watching. It's a face-paced action thriller that just gets better and better as you go along.

The lead character in this movie is named Rick O'Connell, and he is played by one of my favorite actors, whom I've liked since I saw The Mummy Returns, and that would be Brendan Fraser. Rick O'Connell is a man who barely survived a vicious battle in the desert, and then is found to be in a prison, about to be hanged, by a woman named Evelyn Carnahan, and she agrees to help him out of this prison and to safety, if he'll lead her to an ancient long lost city, which he's been to. While on the way there he meets a party of Americans and they make a bet on who will get to the city first, and then he discovers that an old "friend" of his, named Beni, is on board. Beni betrayed him, and he pretty much wants revenge. However, soon he finds a mummy, and the woman, Evelyn, awakens it on accident, and she convinces him that he must save the world, and put down the mummy for good. So now he, Evelyn, and Evelyn's brother Jonathan join an all out battle between life and the undead, and at the same time, he is slowly falling in love with this woman. Brendan Fraser does an excellent job in this role, and he just brings this hard headed character to life, and portrays all of the character's feelings and emotions very well. He delivers us a very convincing and very believable role. He was definitely a great casting choice for this role.

Rachel Weisz, whom I've never seen in anything besides this and The Mummy Returns, stars in this movie as Evelyn Carnahan. Evelyn is a librarian at the Cairo museum, and she's very clumsy causing a lot of mayhem. A group of scholars that she wants to join keeps refusing her entrance, and her brother Jonathan is a drunk. However, when he stops by for a visit he brings in a pretty interesting treat. That treat is a puzzle box, and when she opens it she finds a map to the lost city of the dead, otherwise know as Hamunaptra. Her brother then tells her about the man he stole the puzzlebox from, and she visits this man in jail, and agrees that she will get him out of there, if he leads her to the city of the dead, and so she does, and he agrees to lead her. However, on the trip they're ambushed and have to swim their way to shore and to the city of the dead. Soon she steals the book of the dead from the Americans that are on the same dig site, and accidently awakens the mummy that they had dug up. Now this mummy seems to be after her, as well as some others, and she decides that since she woke him up, she must try and put him down, as she finds out from a mysterious group of men, that he is the most evil of creatures to ever be released. What's more is that, no matter how many times she tries to convince herself that she hates this Rick O'Connell, she is still slowly falling in love with him. Rachel Weisz does a superb job in this movie, and she really makes this perfect girl who is turning into a rough'n so believable and convincing, she really does do an awesome job with it. She was definitely another great casting choice for the movie.

John Hannah, whom I've also never seen in anything besides this and The Mummy Returns, stars in this movie as Evelyn Carnahan's brother Jonathan Carnahan. Jonathan is pretty much a drunk archaeologist who continues to mooch off of his sister Evy, but when he shows her the little trinket that he pickpocketed off of a man, and she then discovers that it's a puzzle box to the lost city of the dead, Hamunaptra. He then takes Evy to find the man that he stole the puzzle box from, after Evy's maniacal boss burns the map, and this man is named Rick O'Connell. After Evy saves him from the noose, Rick decides to help them to Hamunaptra since he's been there before, but not before he knocks Jonathan's lights out for stealing the puzzlebox. The only thing that Jonathan is worried about though is the gold that is supposedly buried beneath Hamunaptra, and that's why he tags along. Also, it was technically "his" puzzlebox. However, soon he wishes that he hadn't come along because the mummy that he helped discover is awakened, and now seeking revenge on something. Jonathan always has funny cracks to say and jokes to make, and is really the morale booster of the movie. John Hannah does a great job with this character, and makes him a really funny and ditzy sort of character. He really brings out all the characters troubles and fears out brillinatly, and makes for a very convicing and believable character. He was yet another great casting choice for this movie.

Arnold Vosloo stars in this movie as the mummy, or ImHoTep as his name is. ImHoTep was the high priest to the pharoah over three thousand years ago, but soon he falls in love with the pharaoh's soon-to-be-wife, and sneaks around with her, however soon he and Anck-Su-Namun, the pharoahs fiance, plan something dastardly, and murder the Pharoah. However they are discovered, and ImHoTep flees as Anck-Su-Namun kills herself. Soon he is caught however, and the Ham-Dai is performed on him. An ancient curse that is very frightening. They wrap him up alive, after cutting out his tongue, and then put him into a sarcophagus and fill it with scarabs(Flesh eating beetles) and then lock that sarcophagus into another locked sarcophagus. He is awakened however, as a group of ancient mages has always feared, and he sets about bringing his beloved Anck-Su-Namun back to life, while at the same time regenerating to his "normal" self. The only thing in his way however is Rick O'Connel and Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan, and he must hurry if he is to succeed before they stop him. Arnold Vosloo does an incredible job in this movie. He really makes this evil character so real, and he just has the look of the bad guy, that some people who play bad guys have, while most others don't. He brings the characters determination to life, and makes an incredibly convincing and believable character. He was definitely a perfect casting choice for this movie.

Kevin J. O'Conner, whom I've only ever seen in this, The Mummy Returns, and Van Helsing, stars in this movie as the slimeball Beni. Beni was once Rick O'Connell's teammate and best friend, until one day, out on the battlefield Beni ditched Rick and locked him out of the tomb that they were hiding in, and left him out there to die. Beni has agreed to help a group of American archaeologists to the city of the dead, Hamunaptra, to treasure hunt, and on the way finds out that Rick is still alive and also headed to Hamunaptra. However, after they arrive, a mummy, found by Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan, is awakened and Beni is left to die, karma being a bitch in this story, and that's when he begins to pray in many different languages, and this catches ImHoTep, the mummy's attention, and soon Beni becomes the slimeball who works for ImHoTep and sells everyone out, so that he may live. Like Jonathan, he's in it for the treasure burried in Hamunaptra, but unlike Jonathan, he's a dirty sleezeball whose only worried about himself. Kevin J. O'Conner is good at playing these sleezeball characters, he was even Igor in Van Helsing, and in this movie it's no different. He really brings this sleezebally character into reality, and makes all of his little ticks, fears, and feelings very realistic. He even looks the part a bit, no offense to the actor of course. He delivers a very convincing and believable performance as well. He was definitely another great casting choice for this movie.

Oded Fehr, who is one of my all time favorite actors, also ever since I saw The Mummy Returns, stars in this movie as a mysterious warrior-monk, named Ardeth Bay. Ardeth is the clan leader of a group warriors known as the Madji. For over three thousand years this group of warriors has watched over the tomb of ImHoTep to make sure that this evil and cursed being would never return to power and reek his evil upon the world. When they discover that Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan and Rick O'Connell have the key that will unlock the mummy's tomb, they attack, trying to get it back, and hoping to end them, so that they'll not awaken the mummy, but they don't do it because they're bad, they're trying to save the world, and everyone in it, but soon the mummy is awake, and Ardeth must combine forces with the three people that he had tried to kill. Oded Fehr does an excellent job in this movie, and makes for a very convincing and believable character. He really brings this strange and mysterious character to life, and makes all of his emotions, worries, and problems come to life. He really delivers an awesome performance, and he was definitely yet ANOTHER great cast casting choice for this movie.

All in all, this is an awesome movie, if you couldn't figure that out from the previous nine paragraphs, and it's one that you'll, like me, never tire of watching ever. You'll enjoy watching it over and over again. It's got everything to it, action, adventure, mummies, and lots of laughs. This truly is a great movie about the undead, and overall an awesome movie. It's definitely on my list of all time favorite movies!!!!!