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| Directed by Stephen Sommers; Starring Brenden Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Jonathan Hyde, Arnold Vosloo, Stephen Dunham, Kevin J. Connor, Corey Johnson, and Tuc Watkins |
Of course, what should I have expected from the director of Deep Rising? Not only does Stephen Sommers make another poor special effects action film, but he also brings one of the weakest links from Deep Rising: actor Kevin J. Connor. I would like to give my apology to Owen Wilson for mistaking him for Connor upon seeing Armageddon (Wilson redeemed himself for acting in Armageddon by co-writing Rushmore). Connor is easily one of the worst actors I have ever seen and this only further pushes my comparison of him to Ed Wood directing Rod Steiger in a film version of Antigone.
The Mummy is a complete rehash of the far superior 1932 Universal Studios Boris Karloff version of The Mummy. It takes an adventure into a mummy’s tomb where the undead waits for someone to mistakenly read the ancient book to open him to the world. For this task, the film turns to the official ditziest actress ever, Swept by the Sea star Weisz. She has come with her brother (Hannah) and a young soldier (Fraser) who says he has been to the Lost City of Hamanatra (if it is misspelled, oh well). They happen to find some other troupe of explorers that are heading there under the lead of Bennie (Connor) for the monetary endowment that would come with the city’s finding. This other group really just serves as a place to point the fury of the mummy (Vosloo) at for the ever so enlightening special effects.
The script is some of the worst dreck I’ve heard all year and the direction is almost as bad. Even the usually kudos-worthy Fraser gives a sub-par performance with about as much appeal as yet another The 7th Voyage of Sinbad skeleton sequence rip-off. I expected a little more from Fraser considering that the last time I doubted him, I was given a nice treat in Blast from the Past. If you must see a mummy movie, do yourself a favor and rent the original from 1932 (or even 1940’s The Mummy’s Hand).
