Back in 1932, when Universal Pictures starred Boris Karloff as The Mummy, interest in Egyptology was high - the studio had also enjoyed a lot of success with other monster films - the classic adaptations of Frankenstein and Dracula and, soon to come, The Invisible Man and The Wolfman. This new Mummy, written and directed by Stephen Sommers, who gave us The Jungle Book and Deep Rising, takes the idea of a 3,000 year old corpse who comes back to life to terrorise all and sundry, and turns it into an Indiana Jones like romp, with Brendan Fraser in the Harrison Ford role... The Mummy falls squarely between two stools. It`s not scary enough to be a horror film, though it could have been because the special effects and makeup are very clever, and it`s not handled well enough to be a satisfying Saturday Matinee adventure. Neither Brendan Fraser nor Rachel Weisz seem entirely comfortable in their heroic roles, though John Hannah`s amusing as the second banana. The adolescent humour which pervades the whole film is clear indication of the target audience - once again, this is aimed squarely at young boys. In the old days, films weren`t quite so eager to embrace a small section of the audience and ignore the rest of us who`d perhaps like a touch more sophistication in our adventure films. The original film was followed by numerous sequels - The Mummy`s Hand, The Mummy`s Ghost, etc - I hope they`ll let this new Mummy rest peacefully.Margaret`s Comments: I`m a sucker for grand-looking popcorn adventures and The Mummy delivers. It`s not quite as much fun or as graphically horrible as it could have been, but it still has quite a bit of swash about its buckle. I`m not sure whether I`m more inclined to give credibility to Brendan Fraser because of Gods and Monsters but he does seem to have a gift for immersing himself in whatever role he chooses and making the most of it. Rachel Weisz looks slightly less comfortable as the ditzy librarian who`s meant to be able to read Aramaic. Plagues of scarabs - even though they`re computer-generated - have the power to give me the creeps, the undead I cope with slightly better. Charismatic and really tragically romantic mummies add to this addictive mix of adventure, horror and fun. No wonder it`s generating such enthusiasm amongst audiences in the United States.
Share
