Franchises: Universal's Modern Mummy Series. The Mummy (1999)

I have very vivid memories of the lead-up to this movie's release, thanks to a number of the trailers and TV spots, which made it look both incredible and terrifying, especially for someone who was eleven, going on twelve at the time. They never gave you a clear look at the Mummy himself but they showed you enough to let you know that this was unlike any previous version you'd seen before (that said, though, at the time, I hadn't even seen the original Boris Karloff film), with glimpses of a monstrous eye watching from behind a hood and a mask being removed, the clip only showing a small glimpse of the horror that lurked beneath it. For a while, the most I ever saw of him was a brief look at the moment where he stomps at Rick O'Connell, as he fires on him with two handguns at the same time. The trailers also showed that this Mummy was more akin to a sorcerer with immense power, with clips of him creating powerful winds and his face appearing in the center of the desert and a large sandstorm, the latter of which really freaked me out, especially the close-ups of the face's mouth coming right at the camera and swallowing a small plane. I didn't see the movie when it was in theaters (my parents and myself thought it might be a little too intense for me), but I kept on seeing clips in advertising for its home video release in the previews for a number of Universal horror films I got on video, like the classic monster movies and my first couple of Alfred Hitchcock movies, Psycho and The Birds. Like for the theatrical release, they never showed a shot of the Mummy himself, but still gave the impression that the film was a dark and ominous one. It wasn't until I saw an episode of AMC's show, Cinema Secrets, that went into the effects behind The Mummy, that I not only learned how this version of him looked in most of his forms, but also that this was quite a groundbreaking movie in terms of digital effects. That made it comes off as less scary and more cool, but when I finally did see the movie, it was purely on a whim, when I bought it on video at a Target in early 2002. Of course, by that time, the sequel was out, and I'd seen plenty of previews for it as well, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

When I finally saw The Mummy, what took me by surprise was how tonally differently it was from all those trailers and TV spots: instead of being a truly frightening movie, it was actually quite funny and tongue-in-cheek, and much more of an adventure movie than an actual horror film, although it certainly had those elements. As many have stated, it's very much in the style of Indiana Jones, and had I seen those movies as that time, I might've felt the same way. In any case, while I do think I liked it that first time I saw it, the jokey tone did kind of throw me. But over the years, as I've watched it more and more, it's become a movie that I genuinely enjoy, as it's popcorn entertainment at its best. It has great characters, lots of exciting action sequences and memorable setpieces, it goes at a breakneck pace, is beautifully shot, has many dazzling visual effects (as well as some that haven't aged well but we'll get to that), a wonderful music score by the master Jerry Goldsmith, and has a sense of fun about it that lets you know not to take it too seriously, without also losing its horror roots. And above all else, I can safely say that this is my favorite iteration of The Mummy. I like it infinitely more than the 1932 original, or any of the "Kharis" films in the 40's, and while I do very much enjoy Hammer's 1959 film, this is the Mummy movie that I always gravitate towards.

Thebes, Egypt, 1290 BC. The city is ruled by Seti I, whose mistress is the ravishingly alluring Anck-su-namun, whom no other man is allowed to touch. However, her true love is Imhotep, the Pharaoh's high priest, and when Seti discovers their affair, they murder him. As the Pharaoh's bodyguards, the Medjai, break in, Anck-su-namun commits suicide, telling Imhotep to resurrect her. He and his priests later steal her body and take her to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, deep in the desert. Using the Book of the Dead, Imhotep attempts to resurrect her soul, but before the ritual can be completed, the Medjai, who'd followed Imhotep into the desert, stop him. For this act of sacrilege, his priests are mummified alive, while he himself is subjected to a horrific curse known as the Hom Dai, so feared that it had never been enacted before. Buried alive in a sarcophagus at the foot of the statue of Anubis in Hamunaptra, if Imhotep were ever released, he would rise as a powerful force of pure evil that would bring with him the Ten Plagues of Egypt and would be practically invincible. For 3,000 years, generations of the Medjai keep watch over Imhotep's resting place, as war often ravages the country. In 1923, American adventurer Rick O'Connell, who's enlisted as part of the French Foreign Legion, is nearly killed, along with his entire unit, in a battle at Hamunaptra. However, the attackers retreat upon sensing the evil lurking beneath the city, and Rick himself witnesses a manifestation of it; when he escapes, the Medjai opt to let him die in the desert. Three years later, Evelyn "Evie" Carnahan, a librarian and aspiring Egyptologist working in Cairo, meets her brother, Jonathan, who shows her a box containing an ancient map which points the way to Hamunaptra. The map is accidentally damaged, so Jonathan takes Evie to its original owner: Rick, whom he stole it from and who's in a local prison. Learning that Rick was actually at Hamunaptra, Evie makes a deal with the prison's warden to spare him from being hanged so he can guide them there, offering the man a percentage of any treasure they find. Along the way, they meet a group of American adventurers who are also searching for the fabled city, and their guide just happens to be Beni Gabor, a former friend of Rick's who abandoned him during the battle. Various Medjai soldiers attempt to stop them from reaching the city, though both parties eventually do find their way there. And shortly after they do, Evie unintentionally resurrects Imhotep, endangering not just the entire group but the whole world.

Similar to the long-gestating and still, as yet, unproduced remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, Universal had been attempting to make a new version of The Mummy since the late 80's, when producers James Jacks and Sean Daniel first came up with the idea, and went through numerous potential directors, screenwriters, concepts and stars. George Romero was attached at a couple of points, first in 1987 and then again in 1994. Clive Barker was set to direct in 1990, from a script by Mick Garris who, like Romero, would return to the project in the mid-90's, on a version that almost got

made, potentially with Wes Craven as director. Joe Dante was also attached at one point, with Alan Ormsby, who'd worked with Bob Clark on his early films, writing the screenplay, although Dante then brought in frequent collaborator John Sayles to rewrite it. Dante is also said to have considered hiring Daniel Day-Lewis to play the Mummy (I wonder if he realized just what he would've been getting himself into had he gotten his wish?). Although Universal had initially wanted to keep the budget fairly low, according to Jacks, as time went on, they became more keen on making it a big budget affair. Throughout this period, Stephen Sommers, who was a big fan of the original 1932 film, saying it was the one classic Universal horror film that always scared him, had wanted to make his own version and finally got his chance to pitch his idea in 1997. The studio liked his concept of the movie being more of an adventure, akin to Indiana Jones or Jason and the Argonauts, than full-on horror, and gave him the go-ahead, as well as a massive budget of around $80 million.

At the time of The Mummy, Stephen Sommers hadn't yet made a big blockbuster. His feature debut was 1989's Catch Me If You Can, and in the early 90's, he made a couple of fairly successful films for Disney, with The Adventures of Huck Finn and their 1994 live-action version of The Jungle Book. However, his immediate previous film as director, 1998's Deep Rising, bombed badly. But the enormous success of The Mummy put him in the big leagues, though it didn't last too long, given how Van Helsing severely underperformed. Sommers is often lumped into the same group as directors like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich, whose movies are considered the epitome of empty, loud spectacle, especially Bay's. Sommers has definitely had his low points and, while he seems to have enormous enthusiasm for the movies he makes, they don't always turn out well (as you'll see in a couple of days, when we talk about Van Helsing). But, on the whole, I can say that I like more of his movies than I do any of Bay's or Emmerich's. I remember enjoying his live-action Jungle Book when I was a kid (I haven't seen that movie in years, though), I think Deep Rising is a fun monster flick, I genuinely enjoy this film, and while it's not as good, I don't mind The Mummy Returns. I'd rather watch any of those movies than Independence Day, Godzilla '98, or Bay's garbage.

Having seen George of the Jungle in theaters back in 1997, I was already aware of Brendan Fraser by the time of The Mummy, but this is what solidified me as a fan of his. He's a lot of fun, not just in this movie, but in the entire series in his role of Rick O'Connell. He starts out as a member of the French Foreign Legion in 1923, and ends up leading his garrison when their intended captain bails on them during a vicious battle at Hamunaptra. By the end of the battle, Rick, aside from his treacherous fellow soldier Beni Gabor, is the only one left alive. And before he's forced to head out into the desert by himself, hoping to find some help, he gets a hint of the ancient evil hidden beneath the ruins, which drives away his attackers. When he meets Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan three years later, he's in a Cairo prison, though why is never made clear; according to Hassan, the warden, he asked him and Rick said, "He was just looking for a good time." When they come to see him, he's smart enough to know that, instead of the box and map Jonathan lifted off him, they want to ask about Hamunaptra. And when Evy asks if he could tell them where it is exactly, he steals a kiss from her and asks that she get him out of prison, as he's about to be hanged. Thus, she strikes a deal with Hassan to spare Rick's life in exchange for his leading them to the fabled city. Rick is willing to hold up his end of the bargain, but he's not going in unprepared. On the boat during the first part of their journey, he reveals to Evy that he has a bag full of weapons and ammunition, telling her, "There's something out there, something underneath that sand... In a word, evil." Though Evy is a skeptic who doesn't believe in the supernatural, Rick has seen enough that, when Evy comes across the fabled Book of the Dead, he warns her that it might not be something she wants to mess around with. That small weapons cache of his also proves very valuable to them early on, when they're continually ambushed by the Medjai, both on the boat and at Hamunaptra, during which Rick proves himself to be quite a skilled gunfighter. But soon, they begin dealing with forces that no mortal weapons can stop. Despite Rick's warning, Evy reads from the Book of the Dead, resurrecting Imhotep, and dooming the world unless he's defeated. Despite this, Rick is ready to run off, saying he's done his job, but he instead gets drawn into the battle to stop Imhotep, especially when it's deduced that the monster plans to sacrifice Evy in order to resurrect Anck-su-namun.

Despite that instance of cowardice, Rick is never an unlikable guy. Not only is he very capable when it comes to fighting and using weapons, but he has a real rugged, cowboy-like charm to him and is very pragmatic, feeling it always pays to be prepared, even if it's against something supernatural. He's also a really funny guy, often making jokes and wise-cracks, and allowing Brendan Fraser a chance to show off his wit and comedic skills, as well as his physical prowess. But

above all else, he's just a genuinely good man. Despite being ready to cut and run after Imhotep is first resurrected, when he has no choice but to stay and fight, he never hesitates to do so, as well as try to help those in Imhotep's sights, including the members of the American expedition and especially Evy, whom he's fallen for over the course of the journey. When Imhotep takes her back to Hamunaptra for the sacrifice, Rick goes on a very daring and dangerous trip back there in order to save her. That doesn't mean he's

completely fearless, as there are plenty of times where he's clearly scared out of his wits at what's going on, but he still fights regardless. And in a display of true chivalry, near the end of the movie, he attempts to help Beni, despite his treacherous nature and the fact that he became Imhotep's servant, helping him accomplish his evil goals.

Unlike Rick, Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), or "Evy," starts out as a major skeptic when it comes to the occult. A Cairo-based librarian and aspiring Egyptologist, she doesn't believe in the fabled curse of Hamunaptra but does believe the city itself does exist. So, when her brother, Jonathan, presents her with a box containing a map that seems to point the way to it, she's more than eager to head out there, mainly to prove herself to the Bembridge scholars, who've rejected her application many times. Though her initial opinion of Rick O'Connell isn't a great one, as she sees him as an ill-mannered thug, especially when he steals a kiss from her, she's willing to make a deal with Warden Hassan to spare his life in exchange for his leading them to Hamunaptra. But, despite her anger over the kiss, especially when Rick admits he only did it because he was going to be hanged at the time, she clearly can't get it out of her mind, either. And, of course, the two of them gradually fall for each other over the course of their journey. When they reach Hamunaptra, Evy is eager to find the golden Book of Amun-Ra, which is said to have the power to take away life. But instead, they find Imhotep's sarcophagus, which Evy realizes can be opened by using the box which contained the map as a key. Using her knowledge of Ancient Egypt, she's able to deduce that Imhotep was cursed with the Hom Dai, and she also knows that the book which the American expedition finds is the Book of the Dead. Being nosy and skeptical of the occult, Evy uses the key to open the book and reads from it, unintentionally resurrecting Imhotep. It doesn't take her long to realize what she's done, as the first of the plagues which accompany him descends upon Hamunaptra, and she runs into Imhotep himself in the catacombs beneath the city. Once they're met with the Medjai and learn just what it is they've done, Evy, rather than run, like Rick plans to do, opts to stay and find a way to stop Imhotep out of guilt for unleashing him. She also soon learns he intends to sacrifice her in order to resurrect his beloved Anck-su-namun, giving her even more of an incentive. 

This sort of ties into a plot-point from the original 1932 film, where the female lead, Helen Grosvenor, is revealed to be the reincarnation of Imhotep's beloved Princess Ankh-esen-amun. Though that's not the case here, Evy, like Helen, is partly Egyptian, and both of her parents are said to have been great explorers, which is why she's always felt a strong connection to the country. When Evy first runs into Imhotep after she resurrects him, he seems to think she is Anck-su-

namon, calling her by that name and telling her to come with him (then again, at this point, he did just take the eyes of Burns, a guy who didn't have the best eyesight). Later, in Cairo, he twice tries to kiss her, at one point calling her Anck-su-namon again, but, when Ardeth Bay and Dr. Bey figure what he intends to do with her, it seems as though he's only thinking of his beloved and how, through Evy, they will again be together. In any case, Evy, figuring that the Book of Amun-Ra is the only thing that can stop him, is able to deduce where it lies in

Hamunaptra (a fact that the Bembridge scholars got wrong and which she takes pride in proving). And though she's then abducted by Imhotep and taken back there for the sacrifice, she's far from a passive damsel-in-distress, as she retains a spunky and spiteful attitude, particularly towards Beni, telling him that sniveling cowards like him always get their comeuppance, eventually. And once she's rescued, she plays a major part in ultimately defeating Imhotep.

As for her and Rick's relationship, even though you know from the outset that they're going to become a couple simply due to genre conventions, their relationship does evolve fairly naturally. Like I said, at first, she doesn't think much of him, describing him as a rude scoundrel, and a pig when he admits why he kissed her at the prison. But, when they finally reach Hamunaptra and begin the excavation, they become closer, especially when Rick shows concern for her following an attack by

the Medjai. A particularly charming scene between them takes place one night at their camp, when Evy gets a little drunk and Rick shows her how to spar. She, in turn, shares with him that she's partly Egyptian, and despite being a little offended when he questions why she's on this expedition, she declares that she's proud of who she is, which he smiles at, and still goes to kiss him, only to fall asleep before she can. Again, even though Rick's about ready to run for the hills after Imhotep is unleashed, the more he and Evy get drawn into the battle against him, the ever closer they become. And when Imhotep abducts Evy to take her back to Hamunaptra, Rick is determined to rescue her at any cost, which he does.

Though he's mostly comic relief, Evy's brother, Jonathan (John Hannah), who's little more than a carefree thief who'll swindle and lie to anyone, including his own sister, is a significant character, as he gets the main plot going. Having picked Rick's pocket of the box containing the map to Hamunaptra (he initially tells Evy that he found it on a dig down in Thebes), he's excited at the prospect of going there, mainly for the incredible treasure chamber said to be there. When the map gets partially burned, he and Evy visit Rick at the Cairo prison to learn where he found it, only for Rick to realize he stole the map from him and promptly clock on the jaw. Regardless, after Evy makes the deal with the warden, the four of them are on their way. For the most part, Jonathan is a cowardly load of a character whenever they end up in danger, although he does know a little something about archeology and reading hieroglyphics. Like Rick, the longer they stay at Hamunaptra, the more he starts to believe the place may be cursed, and when Imhotep is unleashed and brings with him the Ten Plagues of Egypt, Jonathan is able to name them each time they manifest. Despite his cowardly nature, he doesn't hesitate in journeying to save Evy when she's abducted by Imhotep, though he also has a tendency to not pull his weight and let Rick and Ardeth Bay do the heavy lifting. However, he proves that he knows how to handle guns (some fans believe he may have served in World War I), and helps put up a nice fight against Imhotep's undead priests when they're resurrected. Moreover, during the climax, he ends up with the Book of Amun-Ra and, despite some initial issues, reads a spell that unleashes some mummified guards, whom he eventually commands to kill the undead Anck-su-namun. He also manages to use his pickpocket skills to take the book's key from Imhotep without him realizing, allowing them to defeat him. When it's all over, and Hamunaptra has sank into the sand, Jonathan is disappointed to seemingly leave the ruins empty-handed, as he not only didn't get any of the treasure but lost the Book of Amun-Ra during the race to escape. But, seeing as how they ride off on the camels carrying the treasure Beni took, Jonathan likely found it to be a nice compensation.

Kevin J. O'Connor is an actor who works with Stephen Sommers quite frequently and here, he plays one of his most memorable roles as the slimy Beni Gabor. During the battle at Hamunaptra in 1923, Beni, who also enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, appears to be friends with Rick, but when the battle grows intense and the soldiers are slaughtered around him, he betrays Rick by taking refuge in the ruins and shutting him out, leaving him to die. Rick runs into him again on the boat he and the American expedition take down the Nile to find Hamunaptra, learning he's their guide to the ancient city. After he makes a crude joke about Evy when he sees her, Rick throws Beni overboard. And after they're forced to abandon the boat when it catches on fire during a raid by the Medjai, Beni mocks him by proclaiming he and his team have all the horses... only for Rick to point out he's on the wrong side of the river, much to his frustration. Both parties arrive at the stretch of desert leading to Hamunaptra at the same time and race to see who gets there first, per a bet made earlier. Beni who's been promised part of the money if he helps the Americans get there, attempts to cheat by smacking Rick when their camels race alongside each other. This leads to Rick throwing him off the camel, after which he nearly gets trampled. His team are the ones who find the chest carrying the Book of the Dead, as well as canopic jars containing Anck-su-namun's preserved organs. However, when the team's resident Egyptologist, Dr. Chamberlain, reads a warning that those who open the chest will be cursed to die, Beni becomes terrified at the prospect and flees the chamber. Ironically, not only is he spared from the curse but, when he later runs into the recently resurrected Imhotep and, in trying to ward him off, ends up speaking in Hebrew, the language of the slaves in Ancient Egypt, the monster, instead of killing him, makes him his own slave, promising him great riches in return. Thus, Beni brings him to Cairo to help him hunt down and kill those who opened the chest, as well as retrieve the Book of the Dead and abduct Evy back to Hamunaptra. There, during the climax, Beni attempts to make off with much of the treasure found within the ruins, but after Imhotep is vanquished, he accidentally triggers an ancient booby-trap that sinks the entire city down into the sand. Despite all of his treachery, Rick does try to save Beni, but he gets trapped in a chamber and is eaten alive by a swarm of deadly scarabs.

He's never named in the movie itself but, regardless, I've always really liked Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr), the leader of the Medjai, as he has an air of mystery, sophistication, and nobility about him. He acts as narrator during the movie's prologue, and when the story truly begins, he's shown keeping watch over Hamunaptra, observing the enormous battle that's broken out between the Tuaregs and the French Foreign Legion garrison. When Rick is the only one left alive, Bay opts not to kill him, figuring the scorching desert will do the job for them. But when he returns with Evy and Jonathan three years later, Bay can't help but be impressed with his resilience. Obviously, though, that doesn't stop him and his people from trying to keep them from resurrecting Imhotep by any means necessary, including violence. After the Medjai ambush the two expeditions on the river boat, Bay leads an attack on them at the ruins which leads to a number of casualties. But when Rick threatens him with a lit stick of dynamite, Bay calls off the attack, warning him, "But you must leave. Leave this place or die. You have one day!" Naturally, his warning goes unheeded, and Imhotep is eventually resurrected. Bay warns them of what they've done, before he and his men prepare to find a way to destroy him, telling Rick, "This creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat. He will never sleep. He will never stop." Despite initially working against them, as Imhotep grows in power and comes closer and closer to regenerating his body, Bay and the Medjai join forces with Rick and the others, especially when they realize Imhotep intends to sacrifice Evy in order to resurrect Anck-su-namen. By the time the third act rolls around, Bay is the only ally Rick and Jonathan have left to help them return to Hamunaptra to save Evy, and he proves a very invaluable one at that.

At the beginning of the movie, Dr. Terence Bey (Erick Avari), the curator of the Cairo museum where Evy works, appears to be little more than, one, her frustrated employer, who's aghast when she accidentally knocks over a bunch of bookshelves, creating a horrible mess, and two, a stuffy skeptic, as he dismisses Hamunaptra as little more than a legend, even when he looks at the ancient map Jonathan found. He then "accidentally" burns part of it, much to Jonathan's frustration, but Bey tells him, "It's for the best, I'm sure. Many men have wasted their lives in the foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra. No one's ever found it. Most... have never returned." Later on, it turns out Bey had a good reason for burning the map and scoffing at Hamunaptra's existence: he's part of the Medjai. When confronted about it by Rick, Evy, and the others, Bey makes no apologies about the innocent people who've been killed in their attempt to prevent Imhotep's resurrection, feeling it's more than justified. Unfortunately, unlike Ardeth Bay, he doesn't make it to the third act, as he opts to sacrifice himself by holding off Imhotep's slaves so the others can escape.

A fourth member of the O'Connell/Carnahan expedition is Warden Gad Hassan (Omid Djalili), a loud and crude man whom Evy bargains with to spare Rick from being hanged. However, Hassan isn't so easily bribed, as he rejects her offers of up to 500 pounds, saying he'd rather see Rick hang. He does suggest that he'd be willing to listen, if Evy herself would be willing to come with the 500 pounds, but when she rejects him, embarrassing him in front of the whole prison, he opts to go on with the hanging. And when Rick is hanged, only for his neck not to break, Evy decides she has no choice but to reveal that he knows the location of Hamunaptra. She offers Hassan 25% of what they find (in his haggling, he accidentally went lower than her own offer of 30%) and goes along with it. However, just as they're about to depart on the boat, he shows up to join them, intending on protecting his investment. Needless to say, during the scenes where the parties get attacked, Hassan is as cowardly as Beni, and during the journey through the desert, he proves to be just as nasty as their camels, as he constantly spits. Once they reach Hamunaptra and enter the catacombs beneath the ruins, Hassan separates from Rick, Evy, and Jonathan, searching for his own treasure. He finds a mural that appears to be embedded with scarabs made out of blue-colored gold, and removes a number of them and places them in his pouch, only to unknowingly drop one on the ground. It proceeds to hatch into an actual scarab, which burrows through his shoe and into his foot. It crawls up through his body, eventually entering his head, and sends him running, shrieking in horror and pain. He ends up slamming hard into a wall, instantly killing himself, and leaving the others puzzled as to what happened.

The separate expedition, led by Beni, is made up of three American, cowboy types, Henderson (Stephen Dunham), Daniels (Corey Johnson), and Burns (Tuc Watkins), and a British Egyptologist, Dr. Chamberlain (Jonathan Hyde). At first, all of them, including Chamberlain, are arrogant and competitive towards the other group, staking a claim on digging around the legs of a giant statue of Anubis and mocking the others when they first find Imhotep's corpse, while they themselves find

something they consider far more valuable. Even Chamberlain, despite being very prudent and sophisticated, is shown to be downright sexist, at one point saying of the others, "They are led by a woman. What does a woman know?" What's more, he proves himself to be rather immoral, as when they go to open the compartment they find at the statue's base, he has some of their native workers open it, knowing it may very well be booby-trapped, and he's very right, as the diggers are

killed by a pressurized spray of salt acid. The Americans are also very rowdy and enjoy a good gunfight, which Chamberlain has no stomach for, and they're less interested in the Book of the Dead than they are what they consider real treasures, i.e. the canopic jars containing Anck-su-namen's organs. And while Chamberlain is wise enough to know the deadly curse placed upon the chest containing the book and the jars could be very real, the Americans brush it off. Having read the inscription that tells of an undead monster killing

all those who open the chest should he beresurrected, Chamberlain is horrified when Evy reads from the book, warning her not to. However, it proves to be too late, and as soon as Imhotep is resurrected, he begins enacting the curse. After everyone is chased down into the catacombs by a swarm of locusts, Burns becomes separated from them and drops his glasses, which are crushed by Beni when he runs past. Even worse, he runs into Imhotep, who takes his eyes and tongue, and though the Medjai manage to save him from having his bodily fluids completely drained, Imhotep, with Beni's help, is able to completely suck Burns dry later on in Cairo. Chamberlain follows after that, as does Henderson when Rick leaves him and Daniels behind to guard Evy, while he and Jonathan go searching for Chamberlain. The others then try to protect Daniels but, with the help of Beni and those he's enslaved, Imhotep corners him and is able to completely regenerate using him.

During the second act, we get introduced to Winston Havelock (Bernard Fox), an old Royal Air Force pilot who's stationed in Giza as the last member of his squadron, as the others all died in World War I. Often drunk (he twice walks through the bottom section of a fountain in a hotel bar and thinks it's the result of someone spilling their drink), Winston constantly laments to Rick, who's known him for a while, or anyone who will listen, for that matter, about how boring peacetime is, saying, "I just wish I could've chucked in with the rest of them, and gone down in flame and glory, instead of sitting around here, rotting of boredom and booze." (Rick has clearly heard that last part many times, as he says it to himself under his breath.) He gets his opportunity for some excitement and a chance to join his friends when, after Evy is abducted, Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth Bay come to him for help in rescuing her. He's especially enthusiastic when Rick tells him it's a dangerous mission and odds are he won't live through it. Sure enough, they get caught up in a powerful sandstorm that Imhotep conjures up and, of the four of them, Winston is the only one who dies; before they crash, he exclaims, "Here I come, laddies!"

Like Boris Karloff's character in the original Mummy, Imhotep's (Arnold Vosloo) motivation for the horrific and gruesome things he does comes down to nothing more complicated than love (Vosloo himself once said that, "From Imhotep's point of view, this is a skewed version of Romeo and Juliet). As Seti I's trusted high priest, Imhotep had a forbidden love affair with the beautiful Anck-su-namen, the Pharaoh's mistress, whom no other man was allowed to touch. After the two of them murdered Seti when he learned of their affair, Imhotep's priests pulled him out of the chamber, to make it look as though Anck-su-namen was the sole murderer. She committed suicide and Imhotep, determined to have her back no matter what, stole her corpse and her preserved organs in the five canopic jars, and took them to Hamunaptra. In an act of extreme sacrilege, he attempted to resurrect her using the Book of the Dead, but was stopped by the Medjai before he could complete the ritual. As punishment, he was subjected to the horrific curse of the Hom Dai: his tongue was severed and he was buried alive in a sarcophagus filled with flesh-eating scarabs. Though hideous, the curse turned Imhotep into an malefic, undead creature who, if resurrected, would become a walking force of death and destruction, frighteningly powerful and nearly invincible, bringing with him the Ten Plagues of Egypt and threatening to destroy the entire world. As soon as Evy resurrects him, the plagues begin manifesting themselves, and Imhotep goes about slowly but surely restoring his body from its decayed, mummified state by assimilating the organs and bodily fluids of the men who opened the chest containing the Book of the Dead. But, in an act that surprises even the descendants of the Medjai, he also intends to attempt to resurrect Anck-su-namen again, using Evy as the sacrifice to make it happen.

Another thing this version of Imhotep has in common with the original Karloff version is that, rather than a shambling mummy going around strangling people, he's more of an undead sorcerer, with truly lethal powers which only grow the more he regenerates himself. In his first few scenes following his resurrection, while he is akin to a jacked up version of the "Kharis" type of mummy, he's anything but slow-moving, and you get the feeling that, even if you're not one of the people

whose life-force he's going to feed on, he could still easily turn you inside-out and hang you out to dry. Obviously, being undead, mortal weapons like guns do nothing to him, and he's supernaturally strong. As for his powers, he's able to turn himself into sandstorm-like whirlwinds and sand itself, unleash hordes of flies and flesh-eating scarabs, turn throngs of people into his slaves, and, when he's fully regenerated, create powerful sandstorms with his face at the center of them, unleash his mummified priests to do his bidding, and command

ancient, undead warriors. He also, of course, brings with him the Ten Plagues, and while it's unclear if he's actively wielding them or if they manifest simply as part of his curse, they still serve as a sign of how dangerously powerful he is, as swarms of locusts invade Hamunaptra immediately after he's resurrected, fireballs rain down from the sky onto Cairo, a random eclipse occurs later, and his slaves, covered in "boils and sores," take over the city under his command. The one Achilles' heel he has initially is a fear of cats, since they're the gods of the underworld in Egypt mythology, but that goes once he's fully regenerated.

The deadly flesh-eating scarabs that were buried with Imhotep are still active around his tomb even before he's resurrected, as Hassan learns the hard way. But once Imhotep is brought back to life, the scarabs begin to appear in massive hordes that can easily strip a person to bones, and even when there's just one of them, they can burrow into a person's flesh and make their way through the body, often going straight for the brain. Imhotep's priests, who were complicit in his and Anck-su-

namun's murder of Seti I and saved him from being captured by the Medjai, remain as loyal to him in death as they were in life. When he resurrects them to deal with Rick, Jonathan, and Bay during the climax, they prove to be more like traditional mummies in movies: wrapped up in bandages, slow-moving, and often moaning. They're very fragile, as well, and can be easily mowed down by gunfire, but their strength is in their numbers, as well as their ability to continue attacking even when they've been sliced apart. The mummified

soldiers Jonathan unintentionally summons using the Book of Amun-Ra may be as susceptible to being stabbed and crushed as the priests, but they're much more formidable in combat, with their deadly weapons, are more quick and agile, and can even climb along the walls if they need to. But, by finishing the inscription in the book, Jonathan is able to take control of them himself.

Even before he's resurrected, Imhotep's ominous presence can be felt in the early scene at Hamunaptra, where Rick is almost killed by the Tuaregs. When they suddenly run off in terror, he hears eerie voices around him, clearly saying in English that he will die, and after he turns around to see the face of the Anubis statue looking down at him, the sand around him shifts violently, forming an image of Imhotep's face. In the later scenes where the expeditions search the catacombs

beneath the city, the ominous atmosphere remains, as Rick and the others, at one point, hear a scuttling sound in the walls while going down a tunnel, and you find that the deadly scarabs that were buried with Imhotep are still present within the catacombs. And up on the surface, there are a few instances where an ominous gust of wind suddenly blows through. After his resurrection, Imhotep's presence is felt in spades when the parties return to Cairo, as the place goes from bright and sunny to eerily overcast as storm-clouds suddenly appear in

the skies above. That's only a prelude to more overt signs that he's nearby, such as when water from a fountain turns to blood, followed immediately by the fireballs descending upon the city, and, in a most foreboding image, a sudden eclipse, which plunges Cairo into near darkness during the day, and which Ardeth Bay says is a sign that his powers are growing.

Another thing I've always enjoyed about this version of Imhotep is that he's not a static monster; just about every time we see him, his body is more regenerated, and he slowly goes from a walking, centuries-old rotted corpse to looking more and more like Arnold Vosloo. When Rick, Evy, and Jonathan first open his sarcophagus, they're struck with how, despite being thousands of years old, he appears to still be decomposing, which is part of the Hom Dai curse, which keeps him in a state of 

living death. Upon being resurrected, he, initially, has no eyes or tongue, but rectifies that when he comes across Burns and takes his. Tracking the heroes to Cairo, Imhotep finishes off Burns, getting to him by having Beni introduce him as an Egyptian prince. In this scene, he wears some dark-colored robes, a hood, and a rather unsettling mask to hide his rotting face. Upon assimilating Burns' bodily fluids, Imhotep goes back several stages of decomposition, becoming a more muscular corpse,

as he does after doing the same to Dr. Chamberlain. In the scene where he stalks Chamberlain in the streets of Cairo and later regenerates himself by feeding on him, he wears those same dark-blue robes, using the hood to hide his face, and they, somehow, make him look all the more unsettling, probably because they make the digital effects feel more like a tangible part of the scene. And when you see him after feeding on Chamberlain, it's possibly his creepiest form in the whole movie, as he looks like a pale, partially

rotted zombie. These early stages were among the most complicated for Industrial Light & Magic to pull off, as it was one of the most complex digital characters that had yet been attempted and required three months of planning before production even began. You also have to give it up to Vosloo, who did all of the motion-capture himself, making Imhotep 100% his performance from start to finish. After he kills Henderson, Imhotep is revealed to be almost totally regenerated, with only small spots of decomposition on his cheek and the lower part of

his neck (I've read that these effects which involved overlaying digital bits of decomposition onto Vosloo himself were actually the most difficult for the effect team, even more so than the earlier stages). For some reason, this doesn't entirely stick, as the whole area around his mouth promptly rots, and stays that way until he feeds on Daniels and completely regenerates.

Though she's little more than a MacGuffin for Imhotep, Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velasquez) is still both a vital and memorable part of the movie. The first reason is obvious, as she's ravishingly beautiful, and hardly wears anything, so you get plenty of looks at her very sexy form. Second, despite being Seti I's mistress, Imhotep is her true love, and, as Ardeth Bay says in his opening narration, "They were willing to risk life itself." When Seti discovers the affair, both of them viciously murder him, with Anck-su-namun herself striking the first blow, and, before she kills herself, she makes it clear it was a one-sided and unwanted relationship on her part, as she declares to the Medjai, "My body is no longer his temple!" She counts on Imhotep resurrecting her, which he attempts to do at Hamunaptra, but while he manages to bring her soul out of the underworld and back into her body, the Medjai's interference sends her back. Following his own resurrection and regeneration, Imhotep again attempts to revive Anck-su-namun, this time by sacrificing Evy in the ritual. Her soul returns to her mummified body and, when Imhotep is again unable to complete the ritual, Anck-su-namun herself attempts to kill Evy in order to become fully alive again. But, before she can, Jonathan uses the Book of Amun-Ra to take control of a group of mummified warriors and orders them to kill her.

You're unlikely to find a Universal monster movie that's more visually stunning than Stephen Sommers' The Mummy, as it is simply gorgeous. Many scenes, like the prologue in Ancient Egypt, the daytime exteriors in Cairo, and the exteriors out in the desert, have this beautiful, golden shine to them, bringing out the exotic beauty of this place, and the same goes for many of the nighttime or late evening exteriors, which have a lovely, blue look to them. Many of these feature breathtaking vistas of the landscape, many of which were added onto by

visual effects, but it doesn't make them any less wondrous to look at. However, Sommers and his cinematographer, veteran British DP Adrian Biddle, also managed to create plenty of mood in the dark, spooky catacombs beneath Hamunaptra, as well as hint at Imhotep's evil presence when the main characters return to Cairo following his resurrection, creating a dim, overcast look from the storm building overhead and unnaturally dark, shadowy one during the eclipse. And, as I'll get into more later, while the filmmakers do focus

mainly on the large scope and action, they also don't forget that this is still, ostensibly, a horror film, and they shoot certain scenes in a manner meant to create suspense and terror. A perfect example is when Burns is separated from the others and, after losing his glasses, stumbles around the underground corridors, virtually blind. We not only see from his blurry POV but also get a number of tight and tilted angles on him, including one from directly behind, as he fumbles around, one where

see Imhotep appear at the end of a tunnel behind him, and a tight close-up of his terrified eyes when he hears Imhotep snarl behind him, before turning around and screaming. Some of these scenes don't even involve the Mummy himself, as the traditional technique of a character looking in a mirror, bending down, and then seeing someone behind them when they stand back up is used when one of the Medjai attacks Evy on the boat. And when Hassan drops one of the "jewels" and unknowingly releases a deadly scarab, it's a classic instance of the audience seeing it but not the character himself until it's too late.

While I'm not a fan of the original 1932 film, I do typically love movies set in Egypt and the desert, as I just think it's a beautiful, if very punishing, landscape. And while there was a fair amount of digital work used to make some of the settings seem much grander than they truly were, much of it is a skillful combination of actual location work, some of which was actually done miles away from North Africa, and shooting on soundstages. The city of Marrakech in Morocco stood in for Cairo, and all the scenes of them traveling across the

desert were actually done out in the Sahara which, despite its blistering heat, deadly sandstorms, and venomous reptiles, provided the movie with numerous picturesque images. Very impressively, the exteriors of Hamunaptra were built out on the desert, within the Gara Medouar, a large, horseshoe-shaped formation that gives the place a distinctive and isolated feel. But what's even more impressive is that, while a good chunk of the movie's actual sets were done at Shepperton

Studios in Surrey, England, there was location work done in the UK as well. For instance, the Port of Giza on the Nile, where Rick, Evy, Jonathan, and Hassan shove off on their journey, was actually the dockyards at Chatham in Kent, England, but thanks to the props, costumes, extras, and the digital additions of ILM, you'd swear it actually was in Egypt. And the scenes in the water and shoreline following the sequence onboard the boat were done at Frensham Ponds in Surrey.

At the beginning, you see the city of Thebes in the year 1290 B.C., where, as Ardeth Bay describes in his narration, it's depicted as the, "Crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti I." Though the exteriors of the city are created primarily through visual effects, we do see some of the stunning interiors of Seti's palace, where Imhotep and Anck-su-namun have their fateful meeting. It is absolutely gorgeous, with a bright, golden color palette to everything, and a long corridor flanked by statues and burning torches that leads to a similarly stunning

bedchamber that's separated by a curtain of beads. We also get to see the fabled city of Hamunaptra during these ancient times, with much of the exteriors, again, being created through visual effects. When Imhotep attempts to resurrect Anck-su-namun there, we see him do so in a chamber where her soul emerges from a pool of water and momentarily returns to her body. This is also where both he and his priests are mummified alive for their blasphemy, and we see them being put through this horrific process in a dungeon-like

chamber, after which Imhotep is buried beneath the statue of Anubis. Naturally, we return to Hamunaptra during the actual story, both during the expedition and the climax. When Rick and his team begin exploring the catacombs beneath the city, they first enter the chamber where the mummification process took place, which Evy lights up by using an ancient mirror to catch the sunlight from the hatch above and reflect it back and forth across a series of other mirrors. Nearby 

is the base of the Anubis statue, with a secret compartment housing a chest containing the Book of the Dead and Anck-su-namun's organs in five canopic jars. And below that is another chamber where, while trying to dig up through the ceiling to the compartment, they unintentionally find Imhotep's sarcophagus. There are many other notable areas beneath Hamunaptra, such as the room where Hassan finds the mural that, unbeknownst to him, contains ancient, flesh-eating

scarabs (which isn't the only spot where these nasty bugs are found, as Jonathan learns later on). During the third act, they head into a chamber that, when they light it up, turns out to be filled to the brim with valuable treasures, some of which Beni attempts to make off with, and beyond that is the base of a statue of Horus, where the Book of Amun-Ra is stored.

In Cairo, the most notable location is the Museum of Antiquities (the interiors of which are actually Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire), where Evy works, and ends up causing a massive disaster in her introductory scene. Beyond the library where this happens is a moodily-lit room full of exhibits where Jonathan, in his introductory scene, spooks her before making his presence known. It's also the section where they're later surprised to find Dr. Terence Bey with Ardeth Bay and where they explain to them the nature of their secret society

and what Imhotep is planning now that he's been revived. Most significantly, it contains an ancient tablet that Evy uses to deduce where the Book of Amun-Ra is located. Another significant location is the big, fancy hotel where everybody stays when they return to Cairo, which is a really nice looking place, with a main hub containing a fountain and a bar, as well as some very posh rooms, though they're not so nice when Imhotep invades them and does his evil deeds. Early in the movie, Rick is

held in a nasty-looking Cairo prison where, in the main yard, as other prisoners are being forced to work, he's temporarily placed in a holding cell through a metal door in the back when Evy and Jonathan first meet him. His intended hanging takes place in the middle of a large inner yard akin to a gladiator arena, with throngs of prisoners watching from their cells, while Hassan and guests watch from a balcony all their own. And finally,

the streets of Cairo become the setting for many action and horror scenes during the second act, and we also briefly see the interior of Dr. Chamberlain's office when Beni searches it for the Book of the Dead and Rick and Jonathan confront him about his allegiance to Imhotep.

Much like the Indiana Jones movies, The Mummy has all the hallmarks of a big, sweeping adventure, with its many gorgeous locations, wide and impressive vistas, travel montages, and the sheer scope of the action and battle sequences. Seriously, the size of these setpieces is often just amazing, from the opening battle at Hamunaptra and the enormous arena-like area in the Cairo prison where Rick is nearly hanged, to the sequences of action and destruction in Cairo during the second act, the sandstorm Imhotep creates during the third act, and

the ending where the heroes rush to escape as Hamunaptra collapses around them. Even the action scenes that take place in relative close quarters, like the battle aboard the ship on the Nile and the climax within the catacombs of Hamunaptra, are not only quite grand in size and how they're shot, such as the big, wide shots of Rick fighting off Imhotep's undead priests in the latter, but they also manage to be action-packed and exciting, yet not edited so quickly that they're incomprehensible.

Also like the Indiana Jones movies, this is a period piece, set in the mid-20's, but it never overtly calls attention to itself. In fact, just judging from the trailers and TV spots, you would never have guessed this is a period piece (I only knew it was going in because I read John Stanley's rather lengthy review in his updated edition of Creature Features), and aside from the captions that tell you as much, the only hints at it are the clothes, the few-and-far between vehicles and bi-planes, the fact that they take a riverboat during the first part

of their journey to Hamunaptra, the way native Egyptians are used as servants, and Winston Havelock's talking about the "Great War," as well as that very old-fashioned phonograph he's listening to at his outpost in the desert. In fact, I will say that, while he certainly dresses the part, Brendan Fraser doesn't look or feel like somebody you would see in the 20's, to me. I could buy him as a down-on-his-luck, ex-Marine in 1950's Hollywood in Gods and Monsters, but his long hair and attitude as Rick O'Connell just doesn't quite jive with the period, not that it makes any big difference, though.

Like I said in the introduction, something else you would never deduce about The Mummy, judging solely from the trailers and TV spots, is that it's a very funny, tongue-in-cheek film. While Imhotep and the more horrific elements of the story are played totally straight, as is the threat that his resurrection poses to the entire world, the film often has a twinkle in its eye and a sense of humor that lets you know it's meant to be nothing more than an entertaining adventure. Following the straightforward and sometimes intense prologue,

we see the commander of Rick's garrison in the French Foreign Legion run off in terror during the battle, with Beni telling Rick, "You just got promoted." Then, despite his telling him, in a not so convincing manner, "Your strength gives me strength," Beni immediately proves what a coward he is when he runs off as the enormous army of Tuaregs approach. And at the end of the battle, when Rick is cornered and prepares to die, he closes his eyes, only for the Tuaregs to suddenly turn and run, and he slowly peeks, before realizing

what happened. In the very next scene, we get Evy's introductory moment, where she gets herself into quite a pickle. Standing on a ladder while putting books away on a shelf, she finds one book in her pile that belongs on the shelf directly across from her and leans over to put it there. However, the ladder suddenly leans back and she finds herself standing atop it in the middle of the aisle, as it stands up completely straight but horribly unbalanced. She desperately tries to right herself,

and makes a very feeble call for help, but the ladder ends up falling forward, knocking over the one bookcase, and creating a domino effect that knocks down all of them, eighteen in all, that are around her (a feat they were able to pull off in one, flawless take). As she looks at what she's done, Dr. Bey walks in and, aghast at the sight, angrily exclaims at her, "Sons of the pharaohs! Give me frogs! Flies! Locusts! Anything but you! Compared to you, the other plagues were a joy!" Evy tries to

say it was an accident but Bey retorts, "My girl, when Ramses destroyed Syria, that was an accident. You... are a catastrophe!" And from there, you have numerous instances of Jonathan being the comic relief, Rick being the snarky wise-cracker, Rick beating up Beni whenever he gets the chance, and so forth. There are also instances of dark and morbid humor, like Evy candidly telling Rick the gory details of mummification, and a moment

where a scarab crawls out of a rotten section of Imhotep's neck, goes into his similarly rotten cheek, and he munches on it. Even some of the action scenes have bits of comedy in them, like in the climax, when Rick is fighting off the mummified priests and soldiers and there are gags like one mummy juggling his own severed head, another making a sad face when Rick slices his legs off, and Rick reeling back to bring his sword down on one soldier, only to impale the head of another behind him and smash it on the other's head as well.

Though it never becomes horrific to the point where you feel as though you're watching a completely different movie, it doesn't shy away from the more grisly and disturbing aspects of the story. In the prologue, you get a hint of how horrific the process of being mummified alive is, as you see Imhotep's priests being put through it, while Imhotep himself goes through his tongue being severed, wrapped up in bandages (like when you saw Boris Karloff put through it, the idea behind it is very disturbing), placed in his

sarcophagus, and covered in the flesh-eating scarabs, before the lid is closed and he's locked inside. Because of his undead nature and his being trapped in a state of perpetual death, his corpse is much more gruesome than that of a typical mummy when the protagonists find him. Also, when the other team's native servants open the compartment at the base of Anubis, they're sprayed with salt acid and you see their flash melting in a gruesome manner. And while the CGI effects of it haven't aged well, the thought of one of those

scarabs burrowing into a living person's body and making its way through them is, literally, very skin-crawling. But it's when Imhotep is resurrected that the film truly becomes a horror film, as you see Burns after Imhotep has taken his eyes and tongue, and the sight of his empty eye sockets, coupled with how he sounds when he tries to talk, is pretty disturbing. You also see the shriveled corpses of his victims after he's drained them of their organs and fluids in order to revive himself, and even when you don't directly see it happen onscreen, the sucking sounds you hear are disgusting. And we've seen how horrific Imhotep himself looks throughout his various stages of regeneration.

Akin to other filmmakers like Rob Zombie, it's clear that, whatever you may personally think of his movies, Stephen Sommers is a fan of what he's paying tribute to. Here, he not only pays homage to the original Mummy in broad strokes, like keeping the title character's name of Imhotep, the general story of his attempting to bring his beloved back from the dead and being severely punished for this act of sacrilege, his being resurrected accidentally by someone reading something they shouldn't, and his attempting to bring back his beloved when he's

resurrected, but also in more minute details. When they find Imhotep's sarcophagus, Evy, like Dr. Muller in the original, notes that the sacred spells have been chipped off the coffin, meaning he was condemned both in the living world and in the spirit world. Also, when they get a look at him, they acknowledge how he's unlike any other mummy they've ever seen. And when Dr. Chamberlain reads the curse on the chest containing the Book of the Dead, it's very much like the original, when Sir Joseph Whemple reads

the inscription on the casket containing the Scroll of Thoth which, like the Book of the Dead here, is what revived Imhotep. Another detail that's carried over is when Beni tells Burns that, "Prince Imhotep does not like to be touched. A silly Eastern superstition, I'm afraid," which Imhotep himself told Whemple when he touched him, calling it, "An Eastern prejudice." Similarly, when they're discussing why Imhotep was put through such a horrific death, Rick suggests, "He probably got a

little too frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter," akin to when, during the original's opening, Ralph Morton comments, "Maybe he got too gay with the Vestile virgins." Anck-su-namun's name is not only spelled and pronounced similarly to the original's Ankh-esen-amun but, while they don't go with the reincarnation subplot (at least, not in this film), there is still a connection made between her and the film's leading lady, as Evy reminds Imhotep of Anck-su-namun and she becomes part of the ritual

to revive her. Speaking of names, Oded Fehr's character, Ardeth Bay, is named with a slight respelling of Imhotep's alias in the original film; what's more, while Dr. Terence Bey's last name is spelled the way it was in the original, the fez he wears throughout the second act brings to mind the one Imhotep wore as part of his disguise. Heck, Sommers even throws in some details from the "Kharis" films as, like in both The Mummy's Hand and the 1959 Hammer film, Imhotep's tongue was

cut out as part of the Hom Dai, and the way Bey is a museum curator while also being a member of a secret society tied to the Mummy is akin to the character of Andoheb in Hand. Finally, Imhotep turning people into his slaves is not only a possible reference to his taking control of Whemple's Nubian servant in the original, but their marching through the streets of Cairo with torches and trying to break into the museum to get at the heroes is like a tribute to Universal Horror in general.

Sommers also builds upon the original's mythology to create his own, coming up with the notion that Imhotep's undead state and powers are due to a monstrous curse placed upon him as punishment for the sacrilege he committed, and that over the millennia, there have been generations of a secret society to ensure his resurrection never happens. I've heard many argue why they would put such a curse on him, given the threat he would pose to the entire world, something I used to wonder myself. But if you think about it, it was to truly ensure that

anybody who followed or was close to him him wouldn't attempt to do so, with the Book of the Dead itself being buried and cursed as well for good measure. Also, like any civilization, the Ancient Egyptians didn't think their culture and religious beliefs would fade over time. In any case, as a counter-balance to the Book of the Dead, there's also the golden Book of Amun-Ra, which is the only thing that can destroy Imhotep, but it can

resurrect beings itself, as it does when Jonathan reads an inscription that brings to life some ancient, mummified warriors. This mythology is actually pretty simple, all things considered, but Sommers would add to it in the sequel, with the character of the Scorpion King and his connection to the god of Anubis, as well as implement the theme of reincarnation.

Sadly, for a visual effects tour-de-force, that's the area where The Mummy is the most mixed. Sometimes, it looks really good, especially when they use CGI to add to the scope of the adventure, like in the sweeping opening shot of the city of Thebes in 1290 B.C., which was a skillful mixture of digital effects along with miniatures, matte paintings, and composited actors, and shots like when Hamunaptra appears on the horizon as the sun comes up. The same also goes for the storm that builds above Cairo following Imhotep's

resurrection, the fireballs descending on it from the sky, the powerful sandstorm with his face that Imhotep conjures up to take down the heroes' bi-plane, and the big wide shot of Hamunaptra completely sinking into the sand at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, as hard as it was for them to pull off, and as much of a technological feat as it may have been for the time, the computer-generated undead Imhotep hasn't aged well. While he looks good in some shots, like when you see him after he feeds on Dr. Chamberlain and gets the

Book of the Dead from him, and it is cool when Arnold Vosloo's face and attitude start to come through more and more, you can still tell it's CGI without a doubt. That goes for a lot of digital creature effects here, like the CGI locust swarms and the scarabs, the imagery of the scarabs burrowing under someone's flesh, Anck-su-namun's spirit being raised and returning to her body, and the CG versions of Imhotep's minions. All that said, Brendan Fraser is really able to sell

that he's fighting the latter in those action scenes, and the movie is so entertaining that the effects' quality never becomes an issue. What's more, the mummified priests are also often played by actors in makeup and prosthetics, and they look pretty good there, as do Anck-su-namun's undead form, the grisly makeup effects for when the servants are sprayed with salt-acid, and the shriveled corpses of those whom Imhotep feeds on (which are actually leftovers from Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce).

In the film's prologue, we're immediately introduced to both Imhotep and Anck-su-namun as they, rather foolishly, meet up in Pharaoh Seti I's palace for a tryst, watched over by Imhotep's priests. Just as they begin making out, Seti himself enters, perplexed when he sees the priests there. He finds Anck-su-namun by herself in the next chamber, when he notices the body-paint on her left shoulder is smudged, meaning someone has violated his law and touched her. Demanding she

tell him who, he gets his answer when he turns around to see Imhotep, who promptly takes his sword away. Just as Seti gets over the shock of this betrayal, Anck-su-namun pulls out a blade herself and stabs him. She and Imhotep brutally stab him again and again, as the latter's priests watch from the outer corridor. They finish savaging him, when they hear the sound of his bodyguards, the Medjai, attempting to break in after hearing his cries. Anck-su-namun tells Imhotep to flee, which he

refuses to do, and has to be pulled away from her by his priests, as she tells him to resurrect her. When it becomes clear he has no choice but to go along with his priests, he promises he will bring her back. She's then confronted by the Medjai and commits suicide by stabbing herself in the stomach, which Imhotep sees in shadow and recoils at the sight of. Afterward, we see him and his priests racing through the desert at night after stealing her body from the crypt, arriving at the city of Hamunaptra. There, deep within it, he

attempts to resurrect Anck-su-namun, and after reading from the Book of the Dead over her body as she rests on a slab, the jars containing her organs lined up beside her, her soul emerges from a nearby pool of water and returns to her body. But just as Imhotep is about to complete the ritual, the Medjai appear, restraining both him and his priests, and sending Anck-su-namun's soul back to the pool and into the underworld. Following that, the priests are mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is subjected to the Hom Dai, where his tongue is

severed (we don't see the actual cutting but we do see someone approaching him with a blade, as his tongue is pulled out in place, and we hear him scream when it cuts to black), he's wrapped up, put into a sarcophagus, covered in flesh-eating scarabs, and the lid is closed and sealed. As he's buried beneath the statue of Anubis, Ardeth Bay, who's been narrating this whole time, finishes with, "The Medjai would never allow him to be released, for he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater, with the strength of ages, power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility."

Cut to 1923, where Rick O'Connell's French Foreign Legion garrison comes into conflict with a huge army of Tuaregs at Hamunaptra; through it all, Bay and other Medjai watch from a nearby cliff on horseback. As the Tuaregs approach, Rick gets promoted when their commander runs off, followed almost immediately by his would-be friend, Beni Gabor. When the Tuaregs get within range, Rick has the men open fire, and they manage to shoot down a good number of them.

However, the tides quickly turn, as the vastly outnumbered garrison is overwhelmed and driven back, with many of the soldiers either getting shot or sliced with swords, one getting a knife flung straight into his back. Rick manages to hold his own, shooting and knocking two off their horses, and when the one he knocked off comes at him with a sword, he clocks him in the face. Running out of shells for his rifle, he pulls out his double revolvers and falls back, firing on the Tuaregs as

they come for him, and pulling out another pair when those run out of ammo. He runs back into the city, coming across Beni and telling him to run and get inside, as others are killed around him. Beni runs through an ancient door leading down into the catacombs, only to close it on Rick before he can get to it. Trapped, Rick runs across the ruins, dodging gunshots and dropping one of his own handguns. Though he runs as fast and as hard as he can, he's ultimately outnumbered and trapped in front of a statue. The Tuaregs stop and prepare to

shoot him down, and he can do nothing but close his eyes and wait for it. Then, without warning, they all suddenly turn and ride off in fear. Rick opens his eyes, confused at what just happened, but then, as things go quiet, he hears the sound of a murmuring voice around him. Turning, he sees the statue, which is Anubis, seemingly staring right at him and telling him he will die, accompanied by more bizarre sounds. He turns and something runs under his feet in the sand, flinging sand up at him, and sending him running off to the right, as the

form of a face appears. As the Tuaregs flee, Bay tells his men, "The Creature remains undiscovered." They then spot Rick, as he stumbles off into the desert. He turns and sees them up on the ridge, but turns back around and continues on. One Medjai asks Bay if they should kill him but Bay answers, "No. The desert will kill him."

Next, in 1926, Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan are introduced, the latter bringing her the box containing the map she comes to believe shows the way to Hamunaptra. Visiting Rick at the prison, after he recognizes Jonathan as the one who picked his pocket of the map and slugs him, he steals a kiss from Evy when she asks him to tell her how to get to Hamunaptra, saying if she wants to know, "Then get me the hell out of here!" He's immediately beaten from behind by the guards in 

his cell and is taken to be hanged. Next, as Warden Hassan and Evy watch as he's taken to the hanging platform, she tries to barter for his life but Hassan isn't hearing it. The hangman asks Rick, "Any last requests, pig?", and he answers, "Yeah. Loosen the knot and let me go." Amazingly, the hangman actually shouts his request to Hassan, who admonishes him, saying, "Of course we don't let him go!" Evy almost gets Hassan to agree to 500 pounds, but when she rejects him asking that she

include herself in the bargain, embarrassing him in front of the inmates, he tells them to proceed with the hanging. Rick is dropped through the platform but his neck doesn't break, and, while the other prisoners come close to rioting over this, Hassan tells Evy, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Now we must watch him strangle to death." (Brendan Fraser did, in fact, almost die while shooting this.) With no other recourse, Evy tells Hassan that Rick knows where to find Hamunaptra and then, they barter about how much he will get of their findings, eventually

agreeing on 25%, though Hassan ends up screwing himself there. Reluctantly, he asks that Rick be cut down and the rope is severed. With the inmates cheering, Rick, lying on the ground, looks up at his benefactor.

After they've set out on the boat going up the Nile, there's a shot of a group of Medjai assassins paddling towards in it canoes (makes me think of the islanders paddling to the Venture to abduct Ann Darrow in King Kong). The other American team is introduced, and Rick finds that Jonathan blabbed about them heading to Hamunaptra as well; still, Rick decides to go along with their bet about who will reach the place first. The Americans mention having someone who's actually been there as part

of their team, and shortly afterward, Rick learns who it is when he comes across Beni hiding behind some luggage. Initially, he plans to kill him for his betrayal, but when he makes a crude remark about him and Evy, telling him, "You always did have more balls than brains," Rick, literally, throws him overboard. He then sees a trail of wet footprints going across the deck, and looks over the side of the boat. In her cabin, Evy is preparing for bed, when she's attacked by a Medjai with a hooked

hand. He asks where the map is, and when she indicates it, he then asks, "And the key? Where is the key?" Evy doesn't know what he's talking about, when Rick bursts through the door, armed with his double revolvers. She tries to run to him, but the man grabs her and threatens her with his hook. Another Medjai comes through the side-door, armed with two handguns of his own, but Rick quickly shoots him down. However, he shoots off a lantern on the wall, knocking it onto a sofa below and setting it aflame. While the assassin is

distracted, Evy grabs a candlestick and stabs him right in the eye with it. She and Rick flee the cabin, as he shoots down another gun-wielding Medjai. Remembering that the map is in there, Evy tries to run back after it, but Rick stops her, saying, "Relax! I'm the map. It's all up here," pointing to his head, and she retorts, "Oh, that's comforting." 

In the burning cabin, the hook-handed Medjai, clasping his left eye, spots the box that once housed the map on the floor. Recognizing it as the key he's looking for, he goes for it, when Jonathan stumbles in behind him and slams into him, knocking him straight into the burning sofa. Jonathan then sees the key on the floor and goes for it but the man, despite his back and shoulder burning, manages to get it and swipes at him with his hook. He chases him out of the cabin, as the

Medjai start setting fire to other parts of the boat, leading everyone to abandon ship. Rick and Evy reach the deck and he has her hold his duffel bag, while he prepares to reload his revolver. He nearly gets shot in the process, and moves away from the corner. He casually proceeds to reload, unaware of a line of shots trailing across the wall next to him that are getting closer and closer to his head. Evy grabs him and jerks him forward, saving him from getting shot twice. He promptly fires back around 

the corner with his double revolvers, managing to knock off three Medjai from their vantage points as he and Evy make their way to the boat's side. He asks Evy if she can swim, and when she indignantly says she can, "If the occasion calls for it," he assures her that it does, then picks her up and tosses her over the side and into the river. He prepares to join her, when a Medjai leaps up over the side and at him, tackling him to the deck. He gets Rick up and punches the crap out of him, then 

goes to choke him, but Rick smacks his arms down, head-butts him, throws him against the pole behind him, delivers a bunch of punches, and sends him through a door and into a burning cabin, which combusts. Grabbing his duffel bag, Rick is beset by Hassan, who, in a panic, asks him what they're going to do. He tells him, "Wait here. I'll go get help," and promptly jumps over the side. Hassan, seeing he has no other choice, lets out a frustrated yell and does the same. As Jonathan reaches the deck, he sees the Americans are having fun

shooting down some Medjai themselves. At first, he derides their behavior, sneering, "Americans," but when the still burning, hook-handed Medjai reappears and comes at him, cornering him near the rail, Jonathan changes his tune when Henderson shoots him down, sending him over the side and into the water. Jonathan exclaims, "I say, blood good show, chaps!", before donning a pitch helmet and declaring, "And did I panic? I think not," as he tosses the retrieved key up into the air and catches. A sudden backdraft sends him over

the side as well, along with everyone else who isn't already dead. Everyone makes it to shore, with Rick, Evy, Jonathan, and Hassan separated from the others (ILM had to digitally make Rachel Weisz's gown more opaque, as it became see-through when wet and she wasn't wearing any underwear!). Beni attempts to mock Rick from across the river, yelling, "Hey, O'Connell! It looks to me like I've got all the horses!", but Rick retorts, "Hey, Beni! Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!" That immediately kills his arrogance.

The next day, after buying some camels from a merchant, the group makes their way through the desert, traveling into the night. Come nightfall, Rick notices some familiar figures watching them from a ridge; knowing it's him, Ardeth Bay can't help but admire his resilience. As morning arrives, they meet up with the Americans, many of whom are riding on their horses... except for Beni, who's on a camel as well. The groups come together, looking at the expanse of the desert, as Henderson

reminds Rick of their bet about who can reach Hamunaptra first. Rick tells the others that they're about to be shown the way, and within a few seconds, they see what he means. The sun comes over the horizon and, to everyone's amazement, Hamunaptra appears in the distance through a type of mirage effect that comes off as almost magical. As soon as it's fully in view, the groups take off, racing towards it. Since Beni has been promised $100 of the wager if he helps them win, he resorts

to cheating by smacking Rick with his whip when he gets alongside him. However, after a handful of smacks, Rick manages to grab the whip and throw it away, then grabs Beni and tosses him off his camel, nearly trampling him with his own; as she passes by him, Evy says, "Serves you right." With that out of the way, she and Rick head on towards the ruins, with Evy ending up as the one who reaches them first, as her camel suddenly gets a burst of speed. Once they arrive and everyone's setting up, the two teams prepare to head down into

the catacombs in their own, individual routes and through their own methods: the Americans make use of native servants, while Rick and the others do it themselves. They prepare to go down near the statue of Anubis, where Evy hopes to find a secret compartment said to contain the Book of Amun-Ra. Before they head down, Rick gives her a small satchel of tools that he says he "borrowed" from the Americans.

Once they're down in the chamber directly below them, Evy lights it up using the ancient mirrors that catch the sun, revealing it to be a room for mummification. Heading down a corridor, they hear a creepy scuttling sound in the walls, freaking out Hassan, who's already said he hates bugs. Around a bend, they find the statue's underground legs, but when Evy looks for the secret compartment, they suddenly hear what sounds like moaning voices coming closer. Leaning up against

the base of the statue, Rick and the other men take out their weapons, then swing around the corner, only to find the Americans pointing their own guns at them. After realizing they scared each other, the Americans make it clear that they're claiming the spot for themselves. Seeing a chamber underneath them, Evy decides to end the tense standoff, and, in the next scene, she, Rick, and Jonathan are digging up into the ceiling, hoping to reach the compartment. Jonathan notices that Hassan isn't

with them, and we then see him crawling through a tunnel, before coming to a chamber containing a mural that seems to have scarabs made of blue-colored gold embedded in it. He starts filling up his satchel, and mockingly mimics the pose of the pharaoh in the mural while ululating loudly. Back at the base of the statue, the Americans find the secret compartment, but under Dr. Chamberlain's suggestion, they have the native workers open it up. When they do pry it open, they're sprayed with

a liquid that horrifically melts their flesh. Down below, Rick, Evy, and Jonathan are milling around, talking, when Jonathan strikes the ceiling with a pick, causing an enormous object to come crashing through and land in their midst. Seeing it's a sarcophagus that was buried at the base of the statue, Evy notes, "He must've been someone of great importance... or he did something very naughty." Back with Hassan, as he's filling up his satchel, he unknowingly drops one of the scarabs, which hatches into a real one. The insect then

heads for his shoe and burrows through it. He begins screaming in pain and horror, feeling it go up through his leg, and when he opens up his shirt, he sees it moving underneath his flesh. He smacks at it, trying to stop it, but it makes its way up into his head and towards his brain. Meanwhile, Evy wipes off the inscription on the sarcophagus, but finds it reads, "He that shall not be named." Rick blows off some more dirt and sand, revealing a lock with a scarab carved in the center. That's when Evy realizes that the key the hook-handed Medjai

on the boat was talking about is the box that contained the map. She opens it and puts it in the lock, finding that it fits perfectly. Suddenly, they hear Hassan screaming nearby, and run into the next tunnel to see him running wildly, grabbing at his head. He runs right past them and slams hard into the wall at the other end of the tunnel, dying instantly.

That night, as they sit around the campfire, talking about what happened, Rick hears the sound of horses neighing and goes to check it out. Despite telling Evy to stay at the fire, she follows him, with Jonathan, in turn, running after her. A huge mob of Medjai come riding in on horseback, carrying torches and wielding weapons. They immediately start firing on the servants and setting the tents aflame, and like on the boat, the Americans, as well as Rick, use their gunfighter skills to contend

with them. Even Evy gets in on the act, managing to shoot one Medjai off his horse, while Jonathan sits behind a large stone block, drinking some liquor he found in Hassan's satchel and firing on Medjai who come close. He gets some unwanted company when Beni shows up and insists on "sharing" the liquor. But then, Ardeth Bay himself comes riding in behind them and Beni spits the liquor right in Jonathan's face before both of them take off running. Seeing Bay chasing after

Jonathan, Rick dives at him and tackles him off his horse and into a tent. Getting to their feet, Bay pulls out a sword, but Rick shoots it out of his hands. However, when Rick turns and shoots down another Medjai coming at him from behind, Bay pulls out another sword and, this time, manages to smack his gun out of his hand. Rick flips across the ground when Bay swings at him, grabs a stick of dynamite, and uses a campfire to light the fuse. Faced with this, Bay decides they're beaten, but before he and his men depart, he warns them that

they have one day to leave or they will all die. Once they're gone, Rick rips out the dynamite's fuse and tosses it to the ground. He then helps Evy, who was blasted back by her rifle's recoil, to her feet and checks her for injuries. Henderson says the attack proves that there's treasure there, but Rick says people like the Medjai wouldn't be interested in gold.

Once the sun rises, the two teams get back to their excavations, with the Americans removing a chest from the compartment. Wiping off the dust, Dr. Chamberlain says there's a curse upon the chest, much to the derision of the others, and begins reading the inscription: "Death will come on swift wings to whomsoever opens this chest." As soon as he's done reading, an eerie sound permeates the chamber, followed by a sudden gust of air that sends the native workers running, while also

creeping out Beni. Chamberlain reads on, "There is one, the undead, who, if brought back to life, is bound by sacred law to consummate this curse... He will kill all who open this chest, and assimilate their organs and fluids. And in so doing, he will regenerate, and no longer be the undead, but a plague upon this Earth." Having heard enough, Beni runs off in a panic, while the Americans, mocking his fear, open the chest. Elsewhere, Rick and Jonathan prop the sarcophagus up against the

wall and prepare to use the key to open it. Unlocking it, the two of them pry open the lid, only for the corpse inside to suddenly lunge out with an apparent scream. Getting over the shock, they note how the mummy is still "juicy," as though he's still decomposing, despite being over 3,000 years old. They then find fingernail marks on the inside of the lid, revealing he was buried alive, and he also wrote something which Evy translates as, "Death is only the beginning." Back with the Americans, Chamberlain is ecstatic to find the Book of the

Dead inside the chest, while the others are irked that there isn't any actual treasure, until Henderson kicks the chest in frustration, knocking off a panel to reveal the canopic jars containing Anck-su-namun's preserved organs. Unaware of the significance, they feel that they are more worth the effort.

That night, Evy spies Chamberlain attempting to open up the Book of the Dead, when she sees a similar lock on its cover to the one on the sarcophagus. She then joins Rick, Jonathan, Beni, and the Americans at the campfire and shows them some scarab skeletons she found inside the sarcophagus, as well as tells them how she's deduced that the man they found was subjected to the Hom Dai and why such a curse was never used on anyone else. Later, while everyone's asleep, Evy

manages to take the book from Chamberlain, despite his holding onto it while sleeping. She takes it back to her campsite, takes the key from Jonathan's bag, and prepares to unlock it. Rick, who's awake and saw what she did, is disturbed when she says it's the Book of the Dead. She says, "It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book," unlocking it and opening it. Her doing so is accompanied by yet another mysterious gust of wind, with Rick remarking, "That happens a lot

around here." Evy begins reading from the first page, and down below, Imhotep's mummified corpse is revived and lets out a monstrous roar. At that moment, Chamberlain awakens, realizes what's happening, and in a panic, screams, "No! You must not read from the book!" But, it's already too late. A wind slowly picks up, accompanied by a disquieting sound that awakens everyone. They look and see a huge swarm of locusts coming straight at them from the desert and sending them

in retreat. While some of the natives are engulfed by the locusts, Chamberlain, covered in them, sits on the ground, clutching the book, and mutters, "What have we done?" Down below, the others run in a panic through the catacombs, when Burns is knocked to the ground and loses his glasses. Fumbling around for them, he asks for the others to help, but they're too panicked to hear him. Beni comes running by but he steps on and breaks the glasses, then grabs a dropped torch and runs after the others. Grabbing his glasses and realizing

they're smashed beyond repair, Burns gets up and stumbles through the corridor, feeling the walls. He hears something and, asking, "Who's there?", pulls out his gun and swings around. This time, he yells, "Who's there?!", in terror. A shadow appears along the wall at the end of the corridor behind him, and when he hears a sound behind him, he turns back around and, again, stumbles along. A figure passes behind him and he begins turning around back and forth in fear, hearing eerie sounds all around him. Then, he hears a growl and the sound of breathing right behind him, and slowly turns around. He can see well enough to know that what he's looking at is absolutely horrifying and, as it roars at him, he lets out a frightened scream.

Elsewhere in the catacombs, Rick, Evy, and Jonathan are faced with a section of the ground in front of them rising up and exploding into a swarm of the flesh-eating scarabs. The swarm chases them down the corridor, as Rick throws a torch at them and then tries fending them off with his rifle. They run into a large chamber, with a platform on either side of a walkway, and Rick and Jonathan jump to the left, while Evy goes to the right. They watch as the scarabs swarm over the walkway, when Evy

backs against a section of wall and falls through a secret panel; it's only after the scarabs have passed that the guys realize she's gone. She finds herself in a dark corridor and sees Burns standing nearby, his back to her. At first relieved to not be alone, when Burns turns around, she's horrified to see that he has no eyes, and then, she turns and is faced with the resurrected Imhotep. She screams in horror, as he corners her against a wall, and she asks Burns for help, even though he's clearly in no shape to do

so. Imhotep looks at Evy very closely and murmurs, "Anck-su-namun?" Meanwhile, Rick and Jonathan try to get through the panel Evy disappeared into, when Henderson, Daniels, and a servant come running, chased by another swarm of scarabs. They join them, when the poor servant trips and falls, and is immediately devoured by the scarabs, leaving a nasty corpse behind. Speaking in Egyptian, Imhotep holds out his hand to Evy and tells her, "Come with me, my Princess Anck-su-namun." Rick comes running in and frantically

tries to make Evy come with him, only to then turn and be shocked at the sight of Imhotep; Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels have the same reaction when they stumble into the corridor. Imhotep turns and roars at Rick, who roars back before blasting him with his rifle. While it knocks him to the ground, it does no real damage. They run back outside, only to be faced with the Medjai, who have captured Chamberlain. Ardeth Bay removes his mask and tells them, "I told you to leave or die. You refused. Now, you may have killed us all. For

you have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than 3,000 years." Rick insists he blasted Imhotep but Bay tells him, "No mortal weapon can kill this creature. He's not of this world." They then deliver Burns back to his comrades, and after telling them to leave quickly, Bay says they must now find a way to kill Imhotep.

While running blindly through the catacombs, Beni finds himself in a large chamber, pointing his gun in every direction in a panic. No sooner does he start to calm than he turns around and comes face to face with Imhotep. Terrified, he backs away from him, pulling out a small crucifix and saying a prayer. When that doesn't work, he pulls out several more talismans, speaking prayers in various languages, none of which do anything to Imhotep either. Just as Beni is trapped up against a wall, he pulls out a Star of David and speaks in Hebrew,

which stops Imhotep, as he exclaims, "The language of the slaves." He goes on, "I may have use for you. And the rewards... will be great," emphasizing the last part by holding out a handful of gold. Relieved, Beni calls Imhotep, "My prince," as he holds up one of the smashed canopic jars, demanding to know where the others are. Outside, the explorers leave, as Imhotep's hand bursts up through the ground with a loud roar.

Back at Cairo, Rick, after arguing with Evy about running or staying and trying to stop Imhotep, goes downstairs to the bar with Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels. Unbeknownst to them, Burns has a couple of visitors up in his room, namely Beni and Imhotep, the latter of whom is disguised as a mysterious prince. Though at first honored, Burns' mood turns to horror when Beni tells him, "Prince Imhotep thanks you for your hospitality... and for your eyes... and for your tongue. But, I'm afraid more is needed. The prince must finish the job, and

consummate the curse which you and your friends have brought down upon yourselves." Imhotep removes his mask, revealing his decaying, scarab-covered face, as Burns lets out a scream. Downstairs, Rick, Jonathan, and Henderson make a toast, only to immediately spit out their drinks, as does everyone else in the bar. Noting that it tasted like blood, they see that the fountain's water has actually become blood, i.e. one of the plagues. Rick realizes Imhotep is nearby and runs outside, meeting Evy. There's a flash of lightning and

crashes of thunder, as they look to see hail and enormous, meteorite-like fireballs descending upon Cairo, engulfing numerous people in flames and destroying buildings. Beni comes running downstairs, only to try to run back when he sees Rick, but he catches him and demands to know where he's been. The sound of Imhotep roaring distracts him long enough for Beni to run away, and Rick and Evy run up to the room to find Burns' shriveled corpse sitting in a chair. They then see

Imhotep regenerate more of his body and become less decayed over by the fireplace. He roars at them, and Rick comments, "We are in serious trouble." Imhotep stomps towards him, shrugging off the bullets Rick fires at him, which merely pass through him. Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels arrive and attempt to open fire themselves, but Imhotep throws Rick right into them, knocking them all to the floor (I remember when they showed that part on Cinema Secrets, they replaced

Brendan Fraser's actual scream with a really ridiculous-sounding, stock one). He turns to Evy, cornering her against the wall, and says, "You saved me from the undead. I thank you." He goes to kiss her, but then turns and sees a white cat stepping across the keys of a piano. He shrieks in terror and disappears out the window in a whirling cloud of sand, impressions of a face and hands within it. Upon seeing that, Rick comments, "We are in very serious trouble."

Heading to the Museum of Antiquities, the group learns of Dr. Bey's connection to the Medjai, as well as the reason for Imhotep's seeming infatuation with Evy. They also see an ominous sign of his growing power, as a sudden eclipse plunges Cairo into darkness. They then regroup at the hotel and figure out that the missing Dr. Chamberlain is one of Imhotep's targets. Rick tries to get Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels to accompany him in searching for Chamberlain, while Evy stays at the hotel, but they all protest for

different reasons. He decides to handle it his way, by picking up Evy, taking her into her bedroom, locking her in, and leaving Henderson and Daniels behind to stand guard, while he and Jonathan search for Chamberlain. Out on the streets, the Egyptologist, grasping the Book of the Dead, tries to find sanctuary, frightened of every sound he hears. Unbeknownst to him, he's being stalked by a creepy, darkly-robed figure. Elsewhere, Rick and Jonathan find Beni ransacking Chamberlain's office. Beni tries to run for it but Rick grabs a chair

and throws it at him, knocking him to the floor. He picks him up and slams him against some shelves, asking, "You came back from the desert with a new friend, didn't you, Beni?" At first, Beni denies it, but when Rick slams him on the desk and demands to know why he's serving Imhotep, he admits, "It is better to be the right hand of the devil than in his path. As long as I serve him, I am immune." Throwing him around a little more, Rick lifts Beni up and asks what he's looking for, threatening to

put his head in a whirling ceiling fan if he doesn't tell him the truth. Beni admits he's looking for the Book of the Dead so Imhotep can use it to resurrect Anck-su-namun, and also that he wants Evy. There's a scream outside and, while Rick is distracted, Beni knees Rick and jumps out a window, before running off in a daze. Rick and Jonathan look outside and see Imhotep, still wearing his robes, standing over Chamberlain's shriveled body, as a crowd backs away in horror. 

Holding the book, he takes a canopic jar from him as well, then turns around and looks up at Rick and Jonathan, showing he's now further regenerated. He lets loose a swarm of flies from his mouth that shoot right at them, prompting them to close the window shut. The flies then swarm the onlookers, as Imhotep calmly walks off. Knowing he only has two targets left, Rick and Jonathan rush back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, Daniels goes downstairs to get a drink, leaving Henderson alone. He mimes practicing target practice using one of the canopic jars, when there's a sudden burst of air, as well as a ghostly howling. He slowly approaches the open window, gun ready, but when he looks out it, he sees nothing. Then, a blast of sand hits him and, in shadow, his body is lifted up, desiccated within seconds, and  tossed aside. The whirling sand materializes into Imhotep, who's now almost completely restored to human form, save for some

spots of decomposition on his neck and left cheek. Spying the door to Evy's bedroom, he enters by becoming sand and pouring himself through the keyhole. Materializing into his human form, he approaches Evy, as she sleeps, and says, "Anck-su-namun," before going in for a kiss again. This time, he manages to kiss her, but his face suddenly rots and the sensation of this awakens her and she recoils in disgust. Rick and Jonathan burst in and Imhotep is about to attack, when Rick shows him

the white cat from before. At the sight of it, Imhotep shrieks, the cat hisses, and he, again, escapes the room by becoming a mini-sandstorm and blowing out the window. Once he's gone, Rick asks Evy, "You alright?", and behind him, Jonathan answers, "Well, I'm not sure."

With only Daniels left, the group races with him back to the museum, where Evy figures that the Book of Amun-Ra may be the only thing that can kill Imhotep. But, as they reach the top of the stairs, they hear a large group of voices repeating Imhotep's name over and over. They look out a window to see hordes of people walking towards the museum like zombies, brandishing weapons and chanting his name. They're also covered in nasty skin abrasions, representing the plague of "boils and sores,"; Ardeth Bay recognizes that

they've become Imhotep's slaves. Despite this, Evy goes to deduce where the book is located. Outside, Imhotep marches with his slaves, along with Beni, and the hordes storm the museum's front door. Studying an ancient tablet in the lobby, Evy deduces that Bembridge scholars mixed up the locations of the two books. As she tries to figure out where the golden book is hidden, the slaves break through the door and storm the lobby; Jonathan tells her to go faster, and though she says, "Patience is a virtue," Rick retorts, "Not right now,

it isn't!" While Jonathan runs around back to get the car, Evy deduces that the golden book is inside Hamunaptra's statue of Horus. Outside, in a funny yet clever moment, Jonathan is nearly attacked by the slaves, but manages to blend in with them by acting like he's in a trance and chanting Imhotep's name. Once they've passed, he jumps into the car and starts it up, as the others come running to join him. But before they can drive off, Beni spots them and yells for Imhotep, who spots them through the museum's window and shrieks. As they drive off,

with the slaves chasing after them, Rick yells, "You're gonna get yours, Beni! You hear me?! You're gonna get yours!", to which Beni snidely remarks, "Oh, like I've never heard that before!" Though they manage to lose the slaves in the marketplace, they're then faced with another group. After a brief standoff, Rick hits the pedal (which Jonathan's foot is still on) and they drive right at them. The slaves charge at them at the same time, and while most bounce off the hood, a number

manage to grab onto the car and the group fights them off. Rick, Bay, and Dr. Bey do most of the fighting, knocking the slaves off and slamming them into fruit stands and light-poles, and Jonathan even manages to knock one off the hood by poking him in the eyes Three Stooges-style. But, inevitably, Daniels is grabbed from behind and yanked off before Rick and the others can do anything. He tumbles into the street and, drawing his guns, manages to shoot down a number of the

slaves, but quickly runs out of ammo. The slaves stand there, staring at him, when Imhotep emerges from their masses and approaches him. Daniels tries to placate him by offering him the last of the canopic jars but Imhotep devours him off-screen, the sight of which makes Beni and even some of the slaves wince in disgust.

The others crash the car and are forced to abandon it, but are quickly surrounded in a square by the slaves. Imhotep, now completely regenerated, emerges from them, followed by Beni. He speaks to Evy in Egyptian and Beni translates, "Come with me, my princess. It is time to make you mine, forever." Evy sneers, "For all eternity, idiot," but Beni, ignoring the insult, again translates for Imhotep: "Take my hand and I will spare your friends." Seeing no other choice, Evy gives herself over to him. Rick pulls one of his revolvers but

both Evy and Bay stop him, the former saying Imhotep still needs to take her back to Hamunaptra for the ceremony; Bay adds, "She is right. Live today, fight tomorrow." With that, Rick relents, but tells Imhotep, "I'll be seeing you again." Imhotep smiles evilly as he turns with Evy, while Beni takes the key from Jonathan. Imhotep yells, "Kill them all!", and the slaves prepare to carry out his orders. Rick spots a manhole near them and, throwing his torch at the slaves, removes the lid and he, Jonathan, and Bay head down it. But Dr. Bey pulls out a sword and attempts to stave the slaves off, telling them to go. He manages to gut a handful of them, but is ultimately overwhelmed and covered by them.

The next day, Rick, Jonathan, and Bay acquire the services of Winston Havelock at his remote outpost in Giza. They take off in his bi-plane, with Rick sitting behind him in the gunner seat, while Jonathan and Bay are forced to ride while strapped onto the wings. While on the way to Hamunaptra, they come upon an enormous whirlwind of sand, which Winston says he's never seen the likes of before. Down below, it spits out Evy and Beni, then slowly weakens and fades until it becomes Imhotep. Evy sees that they've returned to

Hamunaptra, when they spot the plane, which Evy knows is Rick. Imhotep, in turn, conjures up a powerful sandstorm, the sight of which scares the crap out of Rick. The enormous wall of sand totally engulfs a cliff that the plane flies over in its pursuit of them and, as Rick watches, an image of Imhotep's face appears in it. He fires the gun on it but, for obvious reasons, it's to no avail. Imhotep then has the face open its mouth and come right at the plane. Rick puts on his goggles as the face's mouth closes on the plane and Evy, desperate to

save them (inside the storm, everyone's panicking except for Winston, who's rejoicing that he's about join his war buddies in death), kisses Imhotep. His surprise at this causes him to lose his concentration and the sandstorm dissipates. However, the plane is badly damaged and struggles as it skews down towards the ground, smoking coming from its engine, and crashes behind a hill. That dealt with, Imhotep walks away, as Beni comments, "I loved the whole sand wall trick. It was beautiful.

Bastard." Behind the hill, everyone, despite the rough crash, climbs off the plane's wreckage relatively unscathed... except for Winston, whom Rick realizes got to go out in a blaze of glory, like he wished for. Suddenly, the plane begins to sink under the sand and they run from it, realizing it's quicksand. They watch as the plane disappears beneath it, Rick saluting Winston, and then, they begin making their way towards Hamunaptra, Bay armed with the plane's machine gun.

While Imhotep and Beni lead Evy down to the chamber where he originally tried to resurrect Anck-su-namun, Rick, Jonathan, and Bay attempt to dig their way through a blockade of stones to reach the statue of Horus... or rather, Rick and Bay dig, and Jonathan gives them very unneeded and unwelcome advice. After they both glare at him, he goes about his business, and notices some all too familiar, scarab-shaped "jewels" embedded in the wall to their right. He removes one, and looks at it, only for it to hatch and burrow into his arm.

Jonathan begins screaming and Rick and Bay come to his aid. Seeing the scarab moving beneath his flesh, while Bay holds Jonathan steady, Rick pulls out a knife and, despite Jonathan's protests, manages to cut it out and throw it to the ground. It rights itself and scuttles back at them, but Rick kills it with a gunshot. Imhotep, Beni, and Evy hear the shot, and Imhotep takes some sand, blows it at a wall with hieroglyphics, and says an incantation. Two resurrected mummies emerge from the wall, approach Imhotep, and bow to him. Bowing back,

he tells them, "Kill them, and wake the others." Rick, Jonathan, and Bay enter the enormous chamber behind the rocky blockade and, when Rick uses his gun to shot a nearby mirror to illuminate the room, they see it's filled to the brim with gold and treasures. As they walk through it, Jonathan is dumbstruck by what he sees, but Rick talks him down from attempting to take anything. Suddenly, they hear a noise behind them and turn to see numerous undead mummies emerge from the

ground. Bay identifies them as Imhotep's priests and the three of them open fire, with Jonathan borrowing Rick's twin revolvers while he uses the rifle. They fall back as more and more emerge, and once they're gone, Beni arrives and, eying the riches, plans to make off with as much as he can. After being knocked unconscious at one point offscreen, Evy awakens to find herself tied to a slab, and is horrified when a rat crawls across her. She's even more horrified when she looks to her

left and sees Anck-su-namun's mummified corpse lying on another slab. Meanwhile, the men manage to find the chamber containing the statue of Horus, and Rick uses a stick of dynamite to blow up a good number of the priests. While Beni attempts to load up his stolen treasure on a camel, many of the mummified priests gather around Evy, as Imhotep approaches with the Book of the Dead. Caressing Anck-su-namun's face, he opens the book and prepares for the ritual, as Evy cries for help.

At the statue, Rick and Jonathan try to pry open the compartment containing the book, only to see that more mummified priests are coming down the hall. Once they manage to uncover the Book of Amun-Ra, Bay, after running out of ammo for his rifle while fending off the priests, tells Rick and Jonathan to save Evy and kill Imhotep. He runs down the corridor, fighting the mummies off by smashing them with the butt of the rifle. Rick takes out another stick of dynamite, lights it, and, as Bay is seemingly overwhelmed, throws Jonathan into

an alcove in the wall, then throws the dynamite into another right beside it. The explosion blows through the wall and destroys many of the mummies. Rick and Jonathan run out of the chamber, while Imhotep manages to, again, raise Anck-su-namun's soul from the underworld and it returns to her body. She's revived with a scream, and turns and looks at the also screaming Evy. Imhotep raises a large dagger, declaring, "With your death, Anck-su-namun shall live. And I shall be invincible!" But before he can stab her, Jonathan

shows up and excitedly yells at his sister that they've found the Book of Amun-Ra. Seeing this, Imhotep puts away his dagger and approaches him, while in the back, Rick takes a sword from a statue. Jonathan finds he can't open the book, and when Evy tells him that Imhotep has the key, he knows he's in trouble and runs. Rick runs in with the sword, cuts one of Evy's chains with it, and manages to fight off and destroy the priests when they attack, slicing them apart and dodging their own attacks. Once they're all gone, he prepares to

free Evy, only for one mummy's severed torso to pull him to the floor, causing him to drop his sword. He tries to reach for the sword while fighting off the torso, when he sees another mummy approaching while carrying a large stone tablet to crush him, and a severed arm crawling for the sword. The arm manages to reach and grab the sword, but Rick grabs them both and, when the one mummy raises the tablet, he severs his legs, causing him to fall back, the tablet crushing him.

While trying to avoid Imhotep, Jonathan reads an inscription on the book's cover, but seems to make things worse when he unleashes a group of spear and sword-wielding, mummified warriors. They approach Rick and Evy menacingly, the latter telling Jonathan to finish reading the inscription, which will give him control over them. But, while he tries to figure it, Anck-su-namun attacks Evy from behind, slashing at her with a blade. Imhotep gains control of the soldiers and three of them hop across to face Rick. He yells as ferociously as he can, but when they roar back, he just goes, "Uh-uh," and runs, with them chasing him.

While Evy runs from Anck-su-namun, Rick manages to cut and ride up a rope on a pulley, with a big cage on the other end crushing one of the soldiers. He runs down another corridor, only to run into more warriors, who chase him down a flight of steps and, crawling along the walls, manage to corner him at the bottom. In the midst of Rick's battling the soldiers and Evy avoiding Anck-su-namun, Jonathan has to be helped in finishing the inscription on the book, with Evy telling him what the one symbol means. Rick, while mainly

sword-fighting with them, also manages to set one soldier on fire, while Anck-su-namun grabs Evy by the throat and pushes her against the wall, trying to stab her in order to be revived herself. Despite his amazing fighting and swordsmanship, Rick is disarmed at the top of the stairs and kicked down to the bottom. There, as he crawls away, the soldiers converge on him and prepare to bring their blades down on him. But right then, Jonathan finishes the inscription, and they stop just as their blades are mere inches from Rick's head, with one poking into

his cheek. They pull their weapons away and turn to receive further instructions from Jonathan. Imhotep desperately tries to command them himself, when Jonathan orders them to kill Anck-su-namun. Panicked when he sees the soldiers marching towards her, Imhotep rushes at Jonathan to take the book from him, but he's not quick enough. He hears Anck-su-namun scream his name and looks to see them dismember her. Now enraged, he turns on Jonathan, grabs him by the neck, and lifts him up against the wall, telling him

that now he dies. Rick runs in and slices off Imhotep's arm, making him drop Jonathan. However, this does nothing to stop him, as he grabs and throws Rick across the way, then stomps towards him, reattaching his arm like it was nothing; unbeknownst to him, Jonathan managed to grab the key without his knowledge. He and Evy use it to unlock the book, while Rick keeps Imhotep busy by being tossed around like a rag-doll. They flip through the book, Evy trying to

find the right incantation, while Imhotep walks over to Rick, picks him up by the neck, tells him, "Now, it's your turn," and opens his mouth unnaturally wide. But before he can do whatever he plans on doing, Evy reads an incantation, and a vision of a ghostly chariot appears and runs through Imhotep, taking an image of himself with it. At first, it looks as though this did nothing, as Imhotep stomps back towards Rick. However, when Rick stabs him with his sword, Imhotep

reacts with shock and pain, as Evy declares that the spell made him mortal. He staggers back into the pool of water which Anck-su-namun's soul emerged from and sinks down into it, as various souls gather around his rapidly decaying body. Before he disappears beneath the surface, he speaks something, which Evy translates as, "Death is only the beginning."

Meanwhile, Beni, still attempting to make off with the riches, rests his bags containing them on what turns out to be a lever that, when lowered, sets off a deadly chain reaction. The ceiling begins lowering and the others run for it, with Jonathan tripping and dropping the book into the water, much to Evy's aggravation. Beni still attempts to escape with his treasure through a corridor with a descending ceiling, but finally opts to leave it behind and runs for it, following the others. When they make it back to the treasure room, Jonathan has to be

dragged along, as he so badly wants to take something. Beni runs after them and yells for Rick's help. Amazingly, when they reach the other end of a chamber as the ceiling comes down, he tries to help Beni but, in the end, he's unable to pull him through before they're separated. Beni is forced to head back into the treasure room to avoid being crushed, but finds every exit cut off. Just when it looks like his fate couldn't be worse, hordes and hordes of the scarabs enter. He tries to fend them off with his torch but they surround and

converge on him. As his torch goes out and it becomes black, we hear him scream as they eat him alive. Outside, the others run for it and try to avoid being crushed and sucked down into the ground, as Hamunaptra collapses and disappears beneath the sand around them. They make it past the inner wall, along with the camels, and get to a spot where they watch as Hamunaptra vanishes forever. Once it's quieted down, they get a surprise when Ardeth Bay appears, having survived and

escaped as well. He tells them, "You have earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people... May Allah smile upon you always," and makes a gesture of respect to them before riding off on his own camel. Though Jonathan is disappointed that it looks as though they're going home empty-handed, Rick and Evy don't see it that way, as they share a kiss. And, like all classic adventures, the movie ends with them riding off into the sunset, with some of Beni's riches in tow.

Jerry Goldsmith had already worked with Stephen Sommers when he scored Deep Rising, so it's not too shocking that he was brought back for The Mummy. And boy, am I glad he was, as I absolutely love this score, which I can say is one of my personal favorites of his (unfortunately, he and Sommers had a falling out over it, leading to him not returning for the sequel and never working with Sommers again). He not only perfectly captures the movie's air of adventure and the exotic beauty of Egypt, but also doesn't skimp on emphasizing the story's darker aspects. Much of the score is big, bold, and brassy, like the opening in Thebes, and especially Imhotep's leitmotif, which comes in very powerfully whenever he regenerates more of his body or when he shows what he can do, making it all the more clear that he is most definitely a force to be reckoned with. The scenes dealing with the supernatural, like when the characters are at Hamunaptra and can sense that there's something evil around them, are scored in a very eerie and ethereal manner, with lots of whispering and vocalizing voices mixed in with it. The film also has a memorable and beautiful love theme, which is first heard when we see Imhotep and Anck-su-namun together, but is later passed over to Rick and Evy, and the action sequences are made all the more thrilling and fun thanks to Goldsmith, who was really specializing in these kind of movies around this time. But I think my favorite parts of the score are those that emphasize what an exotic adventure the movie is. The example I always think of is during the montage of Rick, Evy, Jonathan, and Hassan riding camels through the desert, which is scored in an absolutely sweeping and epic manner, with singing voices, that mesh perfectly with the incredible landscape they're journeying through. And the score's building and climactic finale, which you hear both at the end of the movie and to close out the credits, is a perfect, grand note to conclude the story on, sort of like Goldsmith's take on the final note of John Williams' Indiana Jones theme.

Stephen Sommers' The Mummy is just marvelous all around, and other than some dodgy, archaic visual effects, I have no problems with it. I love the characters and the actors, the movie is beautiful and the locations range from bright and gorgeous to dark and spooky, it's a real tour-de-force when it comes to the many visual and practical effects that do hold up, there are numerous exciting action scenes and setpieces, Jerry Goldsmith's score is utterly fantastic, and it's just an enjoyable adventure that has a sense of fun about it but also doesn't forget that it stems from classic horror and pays much tribute to it. While some may prefer the original Boris Karloff movie, or the more traditional shambling mummies like Kharis, for me, I will always gladly take this any day of the week.