I probably watched Stephen Sommers' The Mummy (1999) more than any other film in my adolescence, revisiting it so many times that I broke our VHS tape. Revisiting it now, thanks to HBO Max, is a treat even if it doesn't reach the same level of enjoyment. A throwback to the cheesy adventure movies of yore, it's a fun if exceedingly slight blend of action, horror and humor.
Mercenary Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) is the sole survivor of a French expedition to Hamunaptra, Egypt's fabled City of the Dead, in the 1920s. While languishing in a Cairo jail, Rick's recruited by fetching Egyptologist Evey Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) to locate the city, the resting place of High Priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo). Imhotep was cursed after murdering Pharoah Seti (Aharon Ipale) and bedding his mistress Anuck-sun-Namun (Patricia Velazquez), and our heroes discover that his curse comes with immortality and dread powers. He also thinks that Evey is the reincarnation of his Beloved. Rick and Evey's brother Jonathan (John Hannah) team with Ardeth Bey (Oded Fehr), leader of a secret society devoted to stopping Imhotep, to rescue Evey and prevent an apocalypse.
While borrowing the title and a few names from the Universal horror classic, The Mummy more resembles Indiana Jones than its progenitor. Sommers previously helmed The Jungle Book (1994), which reconfigures Kipling's tale of a boy gone wild into a King Solomon's Mines pastiche, and pulls a similar trick here. The curtain raising battle between Foreign Legionnaires and marauding Arabs (a spectacle worthy of Beau Geste) plunges us straight into a live action comic strip. There are shootouts, swordfights, kidnappings, airplanes, booby traps, flesh-eating bugs and skin-peeling plagues, sweltering deserts and cranky camels, rock-jawed heroes, ethnic villains and damsels in distress - all the stuff of a Boys Own tale of yore.
For better or worse, The Mummy roots itself in the ethos of its inspirations. Sommers doesn't wince at conjuring stereotypes, like the wild American cowboys who serve as Rick's rivals, the grotesque Egyptian jailer (Omid Djalili) or the sleazy Eastern European Beni (Kevin O'Connor), Rick's sidekick-nemesis who finds new ways to sell out his friend in every scene. Most of the Arabs (Ardeth Bey notwithstanding) are fodder for action scenes and mommy attacks. But then, this is a world where our heroes can fire dozens of rounds from six-shooters without reloading, or foil an invincible mommy with a well-placed cat. Considerations of realism, taste and sensitivity aren't a priority.
What could be dumb or wildly offensive is rendered charming by Sommers' tongue-in-cheek approach. The set pieces and dread portents are balanced by clever banter, with Rick and Evey sparring like Tracey and Hepburn in each scene, inevitably falling for each other. Brendan Fraser's Rick is perfect casting; he's physically rugged enough to convince as an action hero, but plays Rick as a goofy Everyman in over his head. Rachel Weisz matches him, roaring out expository dialog and silly one-liners with gusto. In her best scene, a drunken Weisz boasts that "I'm proud of what I am...I am a librarian!" Bookworms everywhere have cheered that line for two decades.
The plot exists solely as a clothes line for frights and action scenes, augmented with a graceful Jerry Goldsmith score and elaborate special effects. Industrial Light and Magic's computer work hasn't always aged gracefully: the swarms of scarabs and the cloud of sand that chases our heroes in one scene feel as dated as a matte painting. Imhotep fares better: a grotesque, rotting being who slowly regenerates organs from his victims, he's a frightening creation even after he turns into the handsome Arnold Vosloo. He shrugs off bullets like an undead Terminator while nursing an ancient romance that strangely humanizes him. But before we can linger on his tragic backstory, it's off to the next action scene.
The Mummy's supporting cast consists of character actors wildly overacting, all for the better. John Hannah makes an agreeably goofy second banana, while Oded Fehr makes a convincing Man Friday with a smolder worthy of Omar Sharif. Kevin J. O'Connor makes Beni's seediness endearing rather than offensive; one great scene has him praying for help to every possible god, while a baffled Imhotep looks on. Jonathan Hyde and Erick Avari make up for their one-dimensional parts with reckless scenery chewing. Bernard Fox has a colorful cameo as an aged RAF pilot who helps Rick track down Imhotep. The trio of American cowboys (Tuc Watkins, Corey Johnson and Stephen Dunham) don't act so much as embody a million action movie stereotypes.
The Mummy lost some of its luster thanks to two dismal sequels and some questionable spin-offs; a reboot featuring Tom Cruise fared even worse. Truth be told, it's nearly impossible to recommend as quality cinema. But there's room even in our politically correct world for vintage pulp, and Stephen Sommers and friends serve it in a concoction that's irresistible.
