--- title: "The Mummy (1999)" subtitle: "The other original" author: Seth publish_date: 2025-04-30 08:00 date: 2025-04-30 08:00 hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax hero_image: film-1600x800.webp show_sidebar: true show_breadcrumbs: true show_pagination: true taxonomy: category: culture tag: [ movie, cinema, horror, review ] --- In an effort to keep better track of what I watch, I'm writing a post about each movie I watch. This isn't a review so much as it a note, but this post does contain minor spoilers. Stop reading if you haven't seen **The Mummy** (1999), and go watch it, because it's a classic. **The Mummy** is a remake of a movie by the same name from 1932. I didn't see **The Mummy** remake when it came out in 1999 because, as I recall, it was up against a Star Wars movie which, at the time, I just knew was going to be amazing (spoiler: **The Phantom Menace** was decidedly not amazing). I sort of forgot about **The Mummy** for about two decades until I realised that I was the kind of person who really enjoys a good [adventure movie](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_movie-adventure-movies). And that's the thing about **The Mummy**, it's not a horror movie even though it does feature some pretty creepy undead. It's a proper adventure movie, with clues and treks and archaeology and treasures and threats. Depending on your tolerance, it does arguably have some horror elements (flesh-eating scarabs and undead ancient Egyptians can be pretty scary) but mostly it's a 1920s period piece with a lot of adventure, a little romance, and dodgy history lessons. Adventure movies, like any genre, have a formula. There's a relentless chase to reach a treasure that, once recovered in the 3rd act, produces a supernatural surprise and is then lost again. **The Mummy**, being both an adventure and a horror movie, fails to follow that formula. In **The Mummy**, our intrepid explorers arrive at the mystery location early and end up recovering the treasure during the 2nd act. The problem is, the treasure is a vengeful undead mummy Imhotep, who wants to consume their life energy so he can resurrect his dead lover. Our heroes spend the rest of the movie getting rid of the treasure they had fought so hard to recover. It's a clever twist that sets **The Mummy** well apart from other adventure movies. Obviously a simple variation of a formula isn't enough to make **The Mummy** a classic film, and luckily everything else in the movie pulls its own weight. The script is sharp, and every actor seems to have been born for their respective role. And if you ever wondered what a solo meet-cute would look like, then you're in luck because this movie invented it for Evelyn Carnahan's introductory scene. ## Classic movie I guess the original movie from 1932 would usually be called a classic, but the same can definitely be said for **The Mummy** (1999) remake. It's fun, scary, romantic, exciting, and magical. It's everything you could want in an adventure movie, and may well be my favourite in the genre.

Lead photo by Anika De Klerk on Unsplash