Reading
Add Comment
When I think about my childhood, and the movies I saw on the Sunday afternoons with my family, this is one of the firsts that comes to my mind. My parents love this series of The Mummy, and I and my sisters grew to like it too.
To begin with, The Mummy is a fantasy and action movie, from the USA. Moreover, it consists in a remake of a film of 1932, with the same name, starred by Boris Karloff. This time, the chosen ones were Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Jonathan Hyde and Kevin J. O'Connor for the lead roles. Plus, the movie was released in May 1999.
With this said, if you are the type of person who is interested in history and archaeology, with a touch of fantasy, adventure and a scent of romance, this is the right movie for you! Let me tell you why.
(CONTAINS SPOILERS)
The plot occurs in the 20's of the 20th century, and it consists in the story of Rick O’Connell, a determinate and brave man - the type of "shoot first and ask questions later" - yet thoughtful (worrying about his loved ones in his unique way), that makes a deal with Evelyn Carnahan, and her brother Jonathan, to guide them to the city of Hamunaptra, the city of the dead. You may be thinking the reason: a long time ago, precisely 1290 BC, in Thebes, Egypt, a high priest called Imhotep has a love affair with Anck-Su-Namun, the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I. Eventually, Pharaoh discovers the affair, so consequently, the lovers kill him. Imhotep flees, while Anck-Su-Namun commits suicide, intending for Imhotep to resurrect her. Imhotep and his priests steal her corpse and travel to Hamunaptra, but the resurrection ritual is stopped by Seti's bodyguard, the Medjai. Posteriorly, Imhotep priests are all mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is sentenced to suffer the Hom Dai, the worst of the Egyptian curses: buried alive with flesh-eating scarab beetles. Imhotep is sealed away in a sarcophagus at the feet of a statue of the Egyptian god Anubis and kept under strict surveillance by the Medjai to prevent Imhotep's return. This stated, Evelyn who is passionate about the history of Egypt, a Cairo librarian and aspiring to be an Egyptologist, with great intelligence and personality, becomes interested in starting an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra.
 |
| Rick - Evelyn - Jonathan |
 |
| Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun |
While Jonathan is keen on finding the mythical and fabulous Egyptian treasures, Evelyn, on the other hand, wants to search for the renowned Book of the Living, a book made of pure gold which would clarify a lot in historical knowledge about the ancient Egyptians.
Furthermore, Rick leads Evelyn and Jonathan to Hamunaptra, however, what they aren’t aware is that another group of treasure hunters are interested in the city as well. The two groups are attacked by the Medjai (who are in charge of avoiding the return of Imhotep, as I said above) led by the warrior Ardeth Bay. He warns them about the dangers and advises the groups to leave the city. As you can probably guess, they ignore him. Therefore, both expeditions keep working on their respective projects: Evelyn, Rick, and Jonathan end up stumbling upon the statue of Anubis and the remains of Imhotep buried underneath. The other team discover the Book of the Dead, followed by canopic jars carrying Anck-Su-Namun preserved organs.
Posteriorly, Evelyn, with her undeniable curiosity for knowledge, reads an excerpt of the Book of the Dead out loud. The consequence? She unleashes the curse of Imhotep, accidentally awakening the High Priest. Imhotep is back and determined to resurrect his beloved Anck-Su-Namun. How? He plans to sacrifice Evelyn in order to pursue his goal. To get things worse for Evelyn, her brother and Rick, “The Mummy” returns with all the force since he killed every member of the group of American treasure hunters. In addition, Imhotep comes across with a completely changed World, with different ideas and diverse systems of government. For that reason, he aspires to get rid of everyone who supports Democracy so he will be able to implement his tyrannical dictatorship.
To solve the big problem that is having a furious mummy in freedom, thirsty for revenge and without limits to get what he wants, including his dear Anck-Su-Namun, the protagonists rush to find a solution. Hence, Evelyn believes that if the Book of the Dead brought Imhotep back to life, the Book of the Living can kill him again.
Notably, after an exciting amount of events, each character has his own deserved ending. I particularly liked the development of Rick and Evelyn relationship, and the fact that even though the pair has strong personalities they end up getting along very well together. Jonathan is remarkably funny, with his naivety in some instances, bringing to the situation jokes whenever he feels the need to and playing occasional pranks.
In conclusion, The Mummy is, in my opinion, a classic. I do not think that there are many movies like this one currently. The actors were properly chosen, and the history is so captivating. In general, it’s not a movie that you see every day: Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan live an epic adventure in which the main antagonists are the terrifying mummy Imhotep and the love of his life Anck-Su-Namun. A movie packed with action, fantasy and that reinforces the idea that love is often the cause of unbelievable stories, which may be the misfortune of many, but also the light of many others who are entitled to their happy ending.
If you are interested, here you have the trailer for the movie to see:
What do you think of The Mummy (1999)?
I hope you have a remarkable week!
Mariana Nunes
Films
0 comments:
Post a Comment