Starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Patricia Valesquez

(9-Great Film)

Thrilling. Joyful. Entertaining.

Technically a reboot of the classic ’30s Boris Karloff-monster movie, this film honestly has more to do with Indiana Jones than that picture. Siblings, Jonathan (Hannah) and Evelyn (Weisz), find an intricate map to an lost treasure buried away somewhere in Egypt, but need the help of a brash American, Rick (Fraser), to get there. Along the way, they meet a competing group of fortune seekers, and are met with resistance by a mysterious desert tribe. Once the treasure is found, it comes at a heavy price, unleashing an ancient evil in the form of a mummy onto the world. Scary, well-paced, action-packed, brimming with strong characters, and a nice corny romance. Basically, just a lot of fun. For all the flack Brendan Fraser gets, he does this role very well. Consider how boring Tom Cruise’s The Mummy was, for all of its seriousness.

-Walter Tyrone Howard-

(103)