For the CineTV contest, Movies that rocked your childhood!, I would like to bring a movie to which I am really related.
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The mummy
Of course, I am talking about the version of 1999, not the horrible remake with Tom Cruise of 2017 and neither the original one from 1932 (which I have never seen).
This was the first "Horror" movie that I saw... I clearly remember that the first time I saw Imhotep I tried hiding under the blankets because I was afraid that he was going to exit from the screen and absorb me too 😱...
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I know that compared to other horror movies, this one is not so scary (probably even defining it as a horror movie is a bit exaggerated), but I was 8 years old at the time, and at that age, you can get easily impressed. Moreover, I was also watching it alone in my room, since I was sure that my mother would have never allowed me to watch it (and perhaps she had a point 😅).
Plot
The year is 1923, and Cairo is the setting. Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), a young legionnaire, Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), a librarian and Egyptologist, and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) are in search of the fabled treasure of Imhotep. The three, convinced that it has been buried with the priest, travel to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead. During their search, the group releases a cruel creature, the mummy of Imhotep, who has been longing to return to the living for three thousand years to exact his revenge...
Why did I chose it?
The Mumy has very different kinds of genres, like horror, adventure, comedy, and romance melted together and it is a perfect choice if you want to see a really funny, and entertaining movie. Moreover, the special effects are quite good (remember that it was released in 1999):
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Moreover, what I really love about this movie are the characters:
- Rick O'Connell - played by Brendan Fraser
Rick's character is of course based on the king of all adventurers, Indian Jones, and although he is not so memorable as his predecessor, I think that Brendan Fraser does a really great job. I clearly remember that while I was watching the film, I dreamed of becoming like him when I grew up... a brave, self-confident, funny, and, above all, cool adventurer.
- Evelyn - played by Rachel Weisz
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Probably the "real" reason why I love this movie. Rachel Weisz was (and still is) a really beautiful woman, but playing the role of Evelyn she is even more than that, she is really stunning. She starts out as a clumsy and awkward librarian but gradually becomes more and more adventurous and courageous. The pair she forms with Brendan Fraser is very well cast and it is clear that there is a very good affinity between the two.
- Jonathan - played by John Hannah
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For sure my favorite character. Most of the film's funny scenes (and there are many of them) are due to or caused by him. Always irreverent, with a ready wit, he initially comes across as greedy and almost unscrupulous in achieving his goals, but in the course of the film, he turns out to be good-hearted and proves decisive in some of the film's key moments.
While I watched it as a child I clearly remember dreaming to become an adventurer, and although I didn't become one (I chose to become an Engineer which is much much boring 🤣), I still love really adventurous things, like skydiving, climbing, down the hill, speleology, etc... and somewhat I belive that this is due also to this film.
So, summing up, this is a movie to which I am really attached, even now that I am 30 years old and I know that there are a lot of better options that I could watch for the first time, I still enjoy rewatching it again. This is something that probably is related to the fact that I have watched it for the first time when I was really young, and I am able to enjoy it even though I know that it isn't a masterpiece. This is the same as when I sometimes decide to play on my PC with Final Fantasy XIII, a PS1 game that I loved as a child... I know that there are a lot of newer games with a much better graphic... but you know, you cannot order your heart... and so probably tonight I am gonna watch The Mummy again 😂.
Thanks for taking the time to read my review and I hope that you liked at least as much as I like the movie.
