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 a 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)