I grew up on stories of treasure hunting and adventure. I loved the tales of Indiana Jones, Aladdin, Treasure Island, and more. But as I’ve gotten older those thrills have been harder to find, at least in Hollywood. Even rarer are films based around Egyptian mythology. We get plenty of Norse, Greek, and Chinese myths and legends, but almost nothing on Egypt. So, I had an itch that needed to be scratched and I knew exactly the film that would do it, a film quite unlike anything that would likely be made today. I am of course talking about 1999’s The Mummy.
In ancient Thebes, 1290BC, high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is discovered to be having an affair with the mistress of the pharaoh, Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velasquez). In the hope of allowing Imhotep to escape Anck-su-namun kills herself, causing Imhotep to take her body to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead. There he will use the Book of the Dead to resurrect Anck-su-namun so they can once again live together. The ritual is stopped and Imhotep is punished by way of a cursed burial, and his burial site becomes lost to legend as descendants of the Pharaoh’s bodyguards watch over his final resting place, ensuring that Imhotep can never return to the land of the living to exact his revenge.
Fast forward to 1926, Jonathan (John Hannah) and Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) discover a map to Hamunaptra. Evelyn is thrilled by the prospect that she may be able to discover the Book of the Dead, as well as discover the long lost city of the dead. Jonathan reveals that he stole the map from an American adventurer, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Frasier), and so the two seek him out and offer to free him from the prison he is currently stuck in if he helps them find the lost city.
Rick agrees, but the trio are not the only ones searching for Hamunaptra. Rick’s band of adventurers, and a long-standing pain in his ass Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor), are hot on their trail and want to be the first to uncover the secrets hidden within. But when one group uncovers Imhotep, and the other Anck-su-namun, it becomes a fight for survival against an immortal supernatural force.
In ancient Thebes, 1290BC, high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is discovered to be having an affair with the mistress of the pharaoh, Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velasquez). In the hope of allowing Imhotep to escape Anck-su-namun kills herself, causing Imhotep to take her body to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead. There he will use the Book of the Dead to resurrect Anck-su-namun so they can once again live together. The ritual is stopped and Imhotep is punished by way of a cursed burial, and his burial site becomes lost to legend as descendants of the Pharaoh’s bodyguards watch over his final resting place, ensuring that Imhotep can never return to the land of the living to exact his revenge.
Fast forward to 1926, Jonathan (John Hannah) and Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) discover a map to Hamunaptra. Evelyn is thrilled by the prospect that she may be able to discover the Book of the Dead, as well as discover the long lost city of the dead. Jonathan reveals that he stole the map from an American adventurer, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Frasier), and so the two seek him out and offer to free him from the prison he is currently stuck in if he helps them find the lost city.
Rick agrees, but the trio are not the only ones searching for Hamunaptra. Rick’s band of adventurers, and a long-standing pain in his ass Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor), are hot on their trail and want to be the first to uncover the secrets hidden within. But when one group uncovers Imhotep, and the other Anck-su-namun, it becomes a fight for survival against an immortal supernatural force.
The Mummy is a really weird film when you look at the legacy it spawned. It’s a horror/comedy, so whilst it never takes itself too seriously, it does go to some pretty dark and horrific places and show some pretty gnarly stuff on screen. But it is widely considered to be a family film, and the franchise it spawned became progressively more family friendly as time went on. You simply wouldn’t get something like The Mummy today, even the term horror/comedy is rarely used and when it is, it’s usually more comedy than horror. The Mummy balances both genres perfectly, making you scream one minute and then laugh yourself to tears just moments later, whilst also framing the film as a genuinely great lost treasure adventure film.
A huge amount of what makes the film work is the excellent cast. Brendan Frasier & Rachel Weisz are outstanding in the leading roles, and the chemistry the two have is completely captivating. The whole ‘will they, wont they’ romance the characters have is the heartbeat of the film that sets the pace for everything else. Where so often in these types of stories the adventurers simply react to what is happening around them, The Mummy feels more reactive to how Evelyn & Rick feel about each other.
There’s also a whole host of comic relief characters, to the point where you get one in almost every scene, but they never feel excessive. Jonathan is a washed up drunk with delusions of grandeur, Beni is a backstabbing weasel that will do anything to save his own skin and make a quick buck, and Omid Djalili plays Hassan, one of Rick’s prison warden’s who wants a cut of the treasure so tags along. Each one brings a different style of humour with them, and each one is used to their strengths in the respective scenes they appear in.
A huge amount of what makes the film work is the excellent cast. Brendan Frasier & Rachel Weisz are outstanding in the leading roles, and the chemistry the two have is completely captivating. The whole ‘will they, wont they’ romance the characters have is the heartbeat of the film that sets the pace for everything else. Where so often in these types of stories the adventurers simply react to what is happening around them, The Mummy feels more reactive to how Evelyn & Rick feel about each other.
There’s also a whole host of comic relief characters, to the point where you get one in almost every scene, but they never feel excessive. Jonathan is a washed up drunk with delusions of grandeur, Beni is a backstabbing weasel that will do anything to save his own skin and make a quick buck, and Omid Djalili plays Hassan, one of Rick’s prison warden’s who wants a cut of the treasure so tags along. Each one brings a different style of humour with them, and each one is used to their strengths in the respective scenes they appear in.
The special effects work holds up very well for a film made in the 90’s, and even better than the special effects in the sequel films for the most part. Once Imhotep is resurrected as the titular mummy, he is a CGI monster for most of the film. His decomposed body is highly detailed and even has holes where you can see right through the model to what’s on the other side of him. On top of this his mystical powers have some pretty spectacular visual effects to them, including stuff like the wall of sand. Whilst everything does look somewhat rubbery by todays standards, when compared to other films from this time The Mummy does exceedingly well with its CGI quality, considering how frequently it is used.
The Mummy is truly a film from a bygone era, where filmmakers and studios weren’t always so focused on pandering to the lowest common denominator. Risks were taken with this film, horror/comedies are a niche genre at the best of times, but having one that does really lean into the horror genre as hard as The Mummy does is something you’ll likely never find in modern cinema. Even its own sequels tried too hard to downplay the horror and be more family friendly, despite the original film being considered a family film anyway, even with the mature age rating it carries.
If you’re in need of a great adventure film then I highly recommend going back and revisiting The Mummy, because despite always being excellent, I would argue that the film has gotten better with age as there’s simply nothing else quite like it anymore.
The Mummy is truly a film from a bygone era, where filmmakers and studios weren’t always so focused on pandering to the lowest common denominator. Risks were taken with this film, horror/comedies are a niche genre at the best of times, but having one that does really lean into the horror genre as hard as The Mummy does is something you’ll likely never find in modern cinema. Even its own sequels tried too hard to downplay the horror and be more family friendly, despite the original film being considered a family film anyway, even with the mature age rating it carries.
If you’re in need of a great adventure film then I highly recommend going back and revisiting The Mummy, because despite always being excellent, I would argue that the film has gotten better with age as there’s simply nothing else quite like it anymore.