Why The Mummy (1999) Is The PERFECT Action Movie
4. A Sense Of Scale
Prince Imhotep did not get resurrected from a 3,000-old slumber to fool around. The high priest of the pharaoh is almost obsessive in his goal to revive his lover Anck su Namun. In doing so, however, it very well looks like he might bring about the end of the world to get his way.
With the resurrection of The Mummy, he also brings the plagues of Egypt, which is refreshing to see. Despite a very intimate motivation, the antagonist brings about massive destruction. Such calamities include locust hordes, turning water into blood, swarms of flies, and the eruption of boils and swarms.
Perhaps most alarmingly, none of these events really seem to help Imhotep further his own goal. Rather, he is just seen as a walking plague himself, corrupting the world around him while he selfishly looks to his own ambitions.
As such, the world suffers for his mere existence. The viewer gets to see, firsthand, that Egypt, and very possibly the world at large, suffers as a result of his actions. The film doesn't elaborate on whether or not these plagues will be limited to where he is, or if those plagues will cease if he's successful, and that ambiguity further heightens the stakes of the move overall.