The mummy

Year of release : 1999

 

Run time : 2h5min

 

Genre : Action / Adventure/ Horror / Comedy / Fantasy

 

Cast : Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr

 

Director : Stephen Sommers

 

 

The movie is written and directed by Stephen Sommers, and is a remake of the 1932 movie The Mummy. It has 2 sequels, released in 2001 and 2008, and a spin off, The Scorpion King,from 2002.

 

In 1290 BC, Thebes, Egypt, the high priest Imhotep (a high priest Imhotep actually existed,and the man was a genius!) has an affair with the pharaoh Seti I's mistress, Anck-Su-Namun. They are found out by the pharaoh and they k1ll him. Anck-Su-Namun k1lls herself,knowing Imhotep can resurrect her. Problem is, they catch Imhotep when he tries to resurrect her, and the Medjai mummify Imhotep's priests' alive, while burying Imhotep alive, with flesh eating scarabs. The Medjai watch over his grave, as he was cursed, and if he's ever awakened, a plague will be released upon the earth.

 

In 1926, Egypt, librarian Evelyn, 'made a bit of a mess' in the library, when she is scared by her older brother, Jonathan, who finally found something, a map leading to Hamunaptra, The City of the Dead.

Jonathan confesses he stole it from treasure hunter O'Connell , who is now imprisoned.

Evelyn bargains with the prison ward who finally agrees to set him free (although they almost k1lled him) in exchange for the map to Hamunaptra.

 

While on the boat to Hamunaptra, the group finds out they are competing with another group,led by his former friend and colleague, Beni. Both groups are attacked by the Medjai, while sailing the Nile. Their leader warns them to leave before something bad happens,but do they listen? No!

 

Both groups decide to dig through the Hamunaptra ruins,each finding incredible discoveries (the Americans finding the Book of the Dead, the British, Imhotep's remains)...which lead to people dying. Evelyn steals the book from the Americans' leader, and reads from it, awakening Imhotep without knowing it, or wanting to. Immediately, the first of the ten plagues of the prophecy comes upon them, the locusts.

 

Imhotep seems to be attracted to Evelyn, thinking her to be Anck-Su-Namun, and we're told it's because he chose her as his sacrifice, as he still loves Anck-Su-Namun, after 3000 years, and wants to resurrect her..again!

 

O'Connell tells Evelyn to leave Egypt, but she refuses, so they split. But not for long, because another plague takes place, and Imhotep attempts to kidnap Evelyn,so O'Connell decides to stay and help.

 

This was one of my favorite movies,20 years ago, and still is today, I still enjoyed watching it, laughing at their jokes and delivery, and I couldn't believe I remembered all the lines!

The movie is so well written, the way everything merges, the action with the comedy and the horror!

I loved the world they created in ancient Egypt and then in the 1920's Egypt! The buildings, the interiors, the clothes, the make-up!

 

The movie was a blockbuster, earning almost 417 million dollars against a budget of 80 million!

 

The actors were great! So many different characters with so many different personalities! O'Connell is adventurous and courageous, Evelyn is a bit silly (a bit of an accident prone) and smart - she also has this freshness about her, this innocence, daydreaming about O'Connell, Jonathan is kinda weak and cowardly, not even protecting his own sister ( O'Connell is the one protecting her!), Beni is a weasel... Imhotep is led by his great love for Anck-Su-Namun..

 

The visual effects stand the test of time.

 

The soundtrack was good.

 

You can watch the full movie here,for free : https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8r1pw3

 

Rating : The stuff dreams are made of !