"The Mummy" (1999)

Essay by smitty5050University, Bachelor'sA+, September 2006

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"The Mummy" (1999) is a remake of the 1932 classic directed by Karl Freund. This version of The Mummy is not what you would expect from a modern adaptation of an old horror classic. Instead of a slow paced horror/thriller, we get a fast moving feature that places a lot of emphasis on its special effects. This is more of action/adventure/comedy, than a horror movie.

In the times of Ancient Egypt, a priest named Imhotep was having an affair with the Pharaoh's wife, Anck Su Namun. The Pharaoh discovers this matter of infidelity, which forces Imhotep and his lover to kill him. As punishment, the Pharaoh's guards execute Anck Su Namun, and in despair, Imhotep takes her lifeless body to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, in hopes of restoring her spirit to her body. In the middle of the process, the Pharaoh's guards interfere, the ritual is left unfinished, and Imhotep and all his priests are killed and mummified.

Imhotep's body, in particular, must be guarded at all times, for an ancient curse has been placed on it and if he is awakened, he could bring the end of the world.

The story cuts to the 1920's, with a lovely but ditzy librarian named Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) intrigued by her brother Jonathan's (John Hannah) latest discovery, a key with a map that could lead to Hamunaptra. Unfortunately, the map is burned so they must rely on the man who had been in possession of the key, a former legionnaire named Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser).

He leads the small group into the desert, with a rivaling team led by a former acquaintance of O'Connell's named Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor), who is leading a group of Americans. They reach the lost city at the same time, and while O'Connell's team...