The film begins with a seven-minute prologue (1290 B.C. for those keeping score) that tells the story of the Pharaoh’s mistress and her lover, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo).  In brief, the pair assassinate the Pharaoh, she kills herself, and Imhotep gets mummified – alive!  He’s buried deep in Hamunaptra, and we’re told if he’s ever freed, his evil power will befall ten plagues on Egypt.  Cut to the mid-1920s where a soldier/explorer/all around adventurer named Rick (Brandon Fraser) teams up with clumsy-but-cute librarian Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) to set down the banks of the Nile in search of Hamunaptra, or as they call it, “The City of the Dead.”  It’s not long before Imhotep is liberated and the mummy’s wrath is unleashed.

In terms of mindless summer tentpole entertainment, it doesn’t get more textbook than The Mummy.  The movie has all the big staples in spades – the heroes (and heroines), the villains, the death-defying escapes, the eye-popping visual effects, even the snappy one-liners.  But running down that checklist of necessities seems to be The Mummy’s largest flaw.  It’s so preoccupied with giving the audience what it thinks they want, the film never services its own narrative and emotional arcs quite as much as it should.  For all its Frankenstein pieces of surefire crowd-pleasing elements blended from other movies, The Mummy is missing a heart. 

The Mummy was released in 1999 just as the CGI revolution had really begun to hit its stride (read: effects running rampant).  Moviegoers were treated to gigantic standstorm faces, flesh-burrowing beetles and lots of vibrant, violent skeletons.  And while the visuals were new and impressive, the characters and story often took a backseat to these effects.  But that’s not to say the movie isn’t fun.  If epic-scope, swashbuckling adventure, and a rocket’s-pace are your thing, by all means, this is one to see.  Just remember to check your brain at the door.