La momie

Here, the makers took the original stock horror film and turned it into an Indianajonesesque adventure in the tradition of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The most visually rich part of the film was the opening scenes set in ancient Egypt. I would love to see an entire film built around that. The sets and costumes were brilliant.

Especially tantalizing is the strictly painted-on attire of Patricia Velazquez as Anck-Su-Namum; what a stunning visual; but it completely upstages her performance. I have heard people talking about it. Some have mistakenly guessed her top was a mesh costume of some sort; not true, it is entirely - and only - paint.

But Velazquez isn't the only thing to turn heads in the film, Rachel Weisz is appropriately attractive, though not as startling; her character is as solid and believable as she is lovely.

The newcomer, Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bey, set quite a few female hearts aflutter; in our party, at least. The internet was lit-up searching for more photos of this guy.

At first, I didn't particularly care for Brendan Fraser as the primary character (he's too well kept and cutesy for a rugged guy-type for me), be he grows on you. He seems to be developing into a versatile actor who will be around for a long time. His work here is good too.

The special effects were the real star of the film, and they were visually rewarding and complimented the story in the right way in the right places. How Arnold Vosloo dealt with those in his role as the mummy Imhotep should be acknowledged. He must have had to imagine quite a bit of what he was interacting with to pull it off, and he does so with great style and substance for this type of role. He was nothing short of excellent.

In fact, most of the remaining characters were well chosen. Jonathan Hyde and Kevin J. O'Connor added to the film in important ways, too. Together, everyone painted an enjoyable film, delivering exactly what it promised; fun, action, and adventure.

This was one of the "low-brain-but-so-damn-entertaining"- type of films. "The Mummy" was an action packed adventure flick with great humor and nice special effects (The Mummy itself could have been better though). I enjoyed every moment with this one. There was no boring parts and Brendan Fraser makes a great performance as the Indiana Jones wannabe (HEH! JOKE!!). Lot of big time effects nice action, very funny jokes and nice GROOVE!!

7/10

This movie is meant to be a classic. It is so ingenious and good that makes you watch it over and over again!

I actually watched this movie 6 times in the theaters, and then I bought the video and I lost count of how many times I have seen this movie.

It is about an Egyptian high priest Imhotep, who was caught having an affair with the Pharaoh mistress and consequently was punished with death and a curse. Then many centuries later, adventurer Rick O'Conell discovers him with Evy, and archeologist, Jonathan, her greed brother, and a group of Americans seeking for fame an glory.

This movie is great, the cast is so good, I never heard of any of them before this movie, except for Brendan Fraser who was in the super famous "George of the Jungle" movie. Anyways the performances are vey convincing, Brendan Fraser is great as handsome hero, Rachel Weisz is great as Evy, a clumsy but very intelligent egyptologist, John Hannah delivers the humor in this movie as Jonathan, the good-for-nothing guy who only cares about money, I have to mention Oded Fehr too, he was pretty good as the mysterious and attractive Ardeth Bay, the leader of the Mejais who is in charge to put the mummy back in his grave, and how can I forget the Mummy himself, Arnold Vosloo, who was, without any doubt, the best one in this movie. His performance is so good as the evil and sexy high priest Imhotep, he doesn't make you hate him, he makes you feel sorry for him! That is what I call "acting skills".

The plot is good, it's not a cheezy-horror flick or something like that, and the dialogues are awesome too :) Let's not forget the direction, Stephen Sommers does a great job. And special mention to the music, by Jerry Goldsmith, it was one of the best parts of this movie.

You get a lot of "candy eye" in this movie, for guys and girls, for guys you get Rachel Weisz and in the beginning of the movie you see the Venezuelan top-model Patricia Velazques as the unfaithful Anck-su-namun; and for girls you get Brendan Fraser, Oded Fehr and of course Arnold Vosloo.

Anyways I highly recommend this movie, THIS IS A MUST-SEE. ***** out of *****

Citizen Kane it ain't, but if you're looking for good, silly, H. Rider Haggardesque fun, this is the film for you. While it hasn't replaced the Universal classic in my affections, let's face it, the venerable original creaks a little. I mean, Karloff's Imhotep only moves two feet per hour -- geez, how will I ever escape him? Arnold Vosloo's Mummy is considerably more fleet, and frankly (from the dirty old lady's perspective) is pretty darned buff for a dead guy. A modern affectation, sure, but I like the idea of a mummy with a great butt.

Brendan Fraser looks good, has a fabulous voice, and a whole boatload of goofy charm. Hey! Call me shallow, but that's pretty much all I'm looking for in a screen idol. John Hannah was acceptable, if not inspired, as the wastrel brother. Rachel Weisz is gorgeous, and acquits herself well in the role of "Heroine in an Adventure Film;" i.e., she screams and gets rescued a lot.

OK, I lie. The modern "Heroine in an Adventure Film" is SPUNKY, screams, and gets rescued a lot.

And as to Oded Fehr, who plays the mysterious desert guardian of the mummy's tomb (a role traditionally assayed by Welsh character actors) -- I and the rest of the ladies in my party indicated, through a series of incoherent grunts and some unattractive drooling, a strong desire to see much, much more of him. And we mean that both literally and figuratively. Powers that be, please take note.

A couple of small caveats: the bug quotient in this film is much higher than I usually tolerate. It puts you right off your Milk Duds. And where in the hell did those camels come from?

So if you're in a mood for brainless entertainment, I recommend that you set your intellect on stun, rush to the nearest cineplex, buy the large popcorn (WITH butter), and settle in for a couple of hours of colorful, loud, over-the-top fun.

Catmommie

Rick O'Connell (Brendan Frazer) leads the beautiful Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) to Hamunaptra (The City of the Dead) where reading from a book brings Imhotep (Pharaoh Seti I's High Priest) back to life.

Once revived Imhotep has only one purpose in this world, to bring his love 'Anck Su Namun' back from the dead to join him, and will kill anyone who gets in his way.

Although based on a Horror Theme, there is little horror on show here, but there are plenty of Great Action Moments, some brilliant visuals and some good humour.

The dialogue is well written and punchy, this combined with some great characters bring the story to life and it turns out to be a terrific Film that is more Action/Comedy than Horror.

8/10