A really good fantasy adventure is streaming on Netflix since this week. However, the 2017 remake with Tom Cruise was a middling disaster.
Indiana Jones meets classic Universal horror in the fantasy blockbuster The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. The 1999 adventure film joined Netflix’s catalog this week and features impressive effects for the time as well as delightful chemistry between the squabbling stars.
In The Mummy, one of the first movie universes rises from the dead
The Mummy caused mischief on the big screen back in 1932. Back then, horror legend Boris Karloff played Imhotep, a priest from ancient Egypt who rises from the grave mummified. The film was part of Studio Universal’s classic monster universe, which housed Dracula, the Invisible Man, the Wolf Man and many others. The cinematic creatures survived until the 1950s.
Decades later, the studio ventured to revive them. Director Stephen Sommers sent Fraser to 1920s Egypt as adventurer Rick, where he meets nerdy Egyptologist Evelyn (Weisz). This time, darkman Arnold Vosloo plays Imhotep, who wears a rotting zombie face instead of gauze bandages.
The Mummy
In other ways, too, he has much more power than in the original. For example, the mummy stirs up sandstorms with its likeness, brings the biblical plagues down on Evelyn and Rick, and sucks the life energy out of people. The result is a fantasy adventure for young and old that throws a bit of horror, a lot of adventure and a dash of romance into the blockbuster mixer and entertains throughout. The Mummy doesn’t reach the quality of Spielberg’s Indiana Jones films because the script runs out of ideas in the third act. However, those looking for old-fashioned blockbuster entertainment will get their money’s worth.
To date, The Mummy remains the most successful revival of Universal’s monster universe, as it launched its own franchise. The blockbuster drew two sequels. In contrast, imitators like Van Helsing (2004) and Wolfman (2010) disappointed either in quality or financially. The nadir of reboot fantasies came in 2017.
The Mummy reboot turned into a disaster
Back in the day, The Mummy starring Tom Cruise hit theaters and was supposed to kick off the so-called Dark Universe. Universal’s answer to the MCU lured stars like Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe, Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp to play legendary horror characters in a blockbuster format.
The Stars of the
Only Boutella and Crowe joined them in The Mummy. The action blockbuster, which had nothing to do with either the Karloff classic or the Fraser adventure, crashed, with the Cruise vehicle reportedly losing $95 million, according to Deadline, dealing a death blow to the Dark Universe.
Clearly, the better The Mummy movie came out in 1999. If you haven’t seen it yet or want to indulge in nostalgia, Netflix now offers the opportunity. Alternatively, you can stream the adventure with a subscription to Amazon Prime Video.
