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The Mummy
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Wiesz
Universal Pictures

"The Mummy" is one of those films that starts off rather promisingly. The performances are enjoyable, the effects are incredible and the film has an air about it that seems to not take itself that seriously. There are a few moments here and there of grand action in the first half; enough to satisfy. The second half though, begins to become too much. It throws every last bit of effects at you. It's very loud, it's flashy and to a point, it's entertaining. I just wish it would stop for a fraction of a second. After a while, the film turns to overload; it felt as if I was being battered and bruised by an onslaught of special effects and sheer sound volume.

The film is sort of a remake of the 1932 film starring Boris Karloff, but this time it's all about the effects. Suprisingly though, I found the performances quite enjoyable as well. The story begins with a tale about the Egyptian priest, Imhotep, who is carrying on an affair with the Pharaoh's mistress. The two get away with murdering the Pharaoh, but he doesn't get away from the Pharaoh's guards, who mummify him and bury him alive, along with a batch of flesh-eating beatles, who are sort of like great ancestors of the bugs from "Starship Troopers".

Flash forward to the present, where we meet our hero, Rick O'Connell(Brendan Fraser) who is fighting off an entire army almost single-handedly at the site of Hamunaptra, where the Mummy was buried. After getting the hint that evil lurks about, Rick leaves the city only to find himself in trouble again, about to be hanged for causing problems in Cairo. Coming to his aid are an adorably goofy young librarian(Rachel Wiesz) and her brother("Sliding Doors"'s John Hannah in an excellent performance); the two want to be taken to Hamunaptra to search for lost artifacts and Rick agrees to lead the way. They're joined in the search by a group of American treasure hunters eager to find the fortune for themselves. Watching over all of them are a band of guards in black robes, people who have been there for all time to make sure that Imhotep stays put. Of course, the audience knows that it's only a matter of time before the Mummy is released and when he does, he's not too happy.

The band of adventurers now find themselves scrambling to escape everything the Mummy throws at them; various plagues, other Mummies and even those funky beatles make appearances throughout the film, crawling under people's flesh and eating them from the insides. As the film continues, the Mummy grows ever more powerful, taking the body parts he needs from his victims. And since the Mummy can only be slowed down, not killed by gunfire, it's up to the heros to find what will put him back in his place.

The film has a certain charm that I was suprised to find; it truly doesn't take itself seriously and that certainly works to get past the screenplay, which isn't that poor compared to other recent action films, but it certainly isn't art. Where it doesn't help is during the action, where it doesn't quite achive the right balance between convincing the audience that the enemy is something to be feared and scared by and convincing the audience that this is just one big amusement park ride; all in the name of entertainment. It's not quite to the level of success that the "Indiana Jones" series had; it's more like, "Son Of Indy" or "Indiana Jones, Jr." It tries to be "Indiana Jones", with the humor of Sam Raimi's classic horror film, "Army Of Darkness".

There are certainly things that work well, though. Brendan Fraser, who has so far made a living out of slow, goofy characters has sort of sharpened the "goofiness" into a quick, funny and lively performance. He certainly makes a better action hero than a boy who's lived in a fallout shelter till he was 30(the recent "Blast From The Past"). Rachel Weisz is onhand as a librarian with a fascination about Egypt that joins Fraser's Rick for the ride. She tries well, but she doesn't quite hit the right comedic note that the character calls for. The most successful performance at times is from John Hannah, who was recently seen in "Sliding Doors". His performance as Jonathan is witty, sarcastic and hilarious, hitting the right sort of comedic timing that the movie calls for. There are few funnier scenes this year than when Hannah's Jonathan tries to "blend in" with Imhotep's new army.

There's a point though, where less here would be more. It all starts off nicely structured with the occasional action scene thrown into the basic story set-up to keep us interested while the film gets to it's point. It finally does get to the point, then keeps screaming it at us, as loud as the roar of the title character. Once "The Mummy" hits the halfway point, the action really begins; the second half is scene after intense scene involving stunts, effects, and even the wall of sand that made an appearance in the trailer. After awhile, it throws so much at the audience that it gets tiring; after a point the film simply never stops and has a pace that makes "Speed" feel like a walk in the park. It's sort of interesting though that as basic as the film's plot is, every moment is designed to push the audience screaming into a state of overload. There's so much going on here, there are even plot points that seem to have fallen off the roller-coaster. We find out Imhotep is scared of cats mid-film, then the idea is never brought up again. Maybe there weren't enough pet stores in Anicent Egypt, who knows.

That's part of the problem. The director, Stephen Sommers("Deep Rising") also wrote the film. He does a very good job moving the film along like a train about to fall off the tracks, but the writing isn't great. It's only the delivery of the performers that turns the sort of basic one-liners into funny and entertaining dialogue. Cinematography is by Adrian Biddle, whose work I've enjoyed in past films(the cold, stylish "Event Horizon") and also, James Cameron's "Aliens".) In "The Mummy" he brings a sort of grand-scale look to the film and captures the breathtaking scenery well.

I was certainly entertained while I was watching the movie, but it's fairly forgetable once you leave the theater. It's a rapid-fire effects film, full of so much in the way of visuals, but not much in the way of a memorable character or grand scene not driven by effects. The film goes on and on, heading at a lightning pace towards it's inevitable conclusion and as much as I admired the technical skill and the performances that brought this movie to the screen, there was just a point where you say to yourself, "Wait... this is still going?" There could have been some tightening on this film, bringing it down around 15-20 minutes to a sharp, fast film that doesn't wear out its welcome. I liked and even loved a lot of "The Mummy", but after awhile I found myself saying, "enough already."

** 1/2

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