My Review of "The Mummy (1999)"

The Mummy (1999) is an adventure movie that takes elements from many popular movies. At the time it was truly a revolutionary movie. The type of special effects that it had was brand new but by today's standards they look extremely outdated. It's kind of a throwback to classic blockbuster Hollywood storytelling that we don't really see anymore. Then again I don't think they could have done something like this today.

It all starts out with an explanation of who our main antagonist, Imhotep. This guy was some sort of priest that had fell in love with the Pharoah's most beautiful mistress. Obviously, they got found out and were punished for their sins in the worst imaginable way. This brought about a curse for the tomb of Imhotep.

Then we jump to the present day which would actually be in the past still. It seems to be set around after the first world war much like the Indiana Jones series. In fact it takes a lot of things that the Indiana Jones series brought to theatres. A lot of the quick smart aleck quips and swashbuckling action sequences are emulated here. Why not that franchise did quite well, why ruin a perfect formula? In some ways it feels like a different take on the Indiana Jones franchise except with a ragtag gang of adventurers.

We have Rick who is the brave adventurer protagonist. Then we have Evelyn the brilliant librarian that seems like a fish out of water in this adventure. To add a little levity to the scenes we have the joke character, Jonathan. He's pretty much a walking joker that keeps the scenes light.

The trio goes off trying to find the tomb of Imhotep for different reasons. Evelyn wants to go for her curiosity in antiquities, Jonathan is there for the riches and Rick is there because he's hired to. Along the ride there is a separate American group trying to claim the riches for themselves first. It's a bit of a chase to see who will get there first.

Of course when they finally find the tomb things go eerie and all hell breaks loose. I would say that's when the real adventure starts but that's not the case with this movie. It's pretty action packed from start to finish. It's definitely the prime definition of summer blockbuster popcorn movie. If you shut off your brain you will definitely have a great time with this one.

I know back in 1999 this movie would have been a revelation with all of the stunning effects that they added to this movie. They have CGI and practical effects all kind of seamlessly added. I say seamlessly because by today's standards it is pretty crude. It's sort of like watching stop motion animated characters added to a live action movie. We recognize that at the time it seemed really cool but today it looks pretty bad. That's the case with a lot of the CGI work in this movie. Though the models and practical special effects they weaved into the CGI work is pretty well done.

Surprisingly it's the sound that makes the movie much better. If you have a surround sound system it really helps build the environment for you. The sound holds up pretty well and it kind of took me back to 1999 and made me relive the moment.

Other than the special effects and the one note storyline the cast does a really good job in giving this movie some life. They can be a bit over the top but that's kind of warranted in a movie like this. Each of the cast know their role and they do a great job in bringing me into the movie.

Overall, I had a good time with this one. I now see why people really liked this movie and why it did so well in the box-office. It's a very fun movie and I think many can enjoy this one despite the bad special effects. This movie harkens back to a very 90's flavored cut and paste storyline. To me it's kind of like comfort food. I have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. I'm not sure if I could go back to this one again though.