Why The Mummy (1999) Is The PERFECT Action Movie
7. Have A Laugh
The original Mummy film was a straight up horror movie. But the concept of an ancient dead Egyptian guy walking around lost some of its bite in the intervening years between the original and the revival. The filmmakers wisely leaned into that by giving the film a light heartened sense of whimsy.
Casting Fraser, a gifted comedian, as an action hero was an excellent first step. He plays more of a straight man than is tradition, but his facial expressions expertly enhance the insanity playing around him. And there is plenty of insanity to be had.
Johnathan gets into a feud with the warden of the prison in which Rick was to be hanged. Evelyn gets drunk and proudly proclaims her place in the world: "I....am a librarian!" She also isn't a great one apparently, as her boss, Dr. Bey, claims he'd prefer a swarm of locust than to have clumsily ruin his establishment.
And Rick, to his credit, gets a couple of scene stealing moments: one in which he frightens Imhotep with a cat, said to be guardians of the Underworld. The absolute best, however, is the first appearance of the Mummy. Still mostly a shambling corpse, it roars in anger at him. Rick stares with a deadpan expression, roars back, and promptly wrecks him with a shotgun to the abdomen.