Today marks The Mummy’s anniversary! This reboot of the Boris Karloff classic debuted on May 7, 1999, and while I could’ve gone to a theatrical celebration, sadly there wasn’t one screening in my city. The reason this film stands the test of time is that it’s simply fun! It captures the true essence of what pulp fiction should represent and gives us characters I want to root for. It’s not just another Brendan Fraser film. Instead, it’s a career launcher for the other two main leads, namely Rachel Weisz and Arnold Vosloo. The former loves appearing in indie films more than mainstream ones, and the latter continues to pop up in fondly loved projects, ranging from Veritas: The Quest (which I feel deserves a reboot) and even Condor’s Nest to show the type of roles that challenge him as a Hollywood actor.
However, I must note that Kevin J. O’Connor stole the show. As a cowardly and conniving Beni Gabor, without him, I doubt the search for The Mummy’s treasures would’ve been known, and although Evie was the reason for his awakening, both had important roles to play!
Anyone who’s passionately followed the saga knows that what’s great about this series is the juxtaposition. When Imhotep only wants the women he loves back but ultimately knows he can’t have her, any plans for a second chance after seeing the modern day reincarnation of her is nixed. What’s wrought is a pained antihero lashing out at the world. He was never truly evil. All he wanted was to be with Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velasquez)
Fans only need to know of the original and second film since they make up the true core of the series. As for the third film, when Wiesz isn’t involved, it isn’t canon! There’s also The Scorpion King, which is set at another time concerning how the younger version would become the character in the films, but honestly, that franchise lost its focus in their subsequent films. I believe that’s because the producers didn’t want to make a story properly set in the Middle East and went for pure fantasy.
All of these aren’t essential reading. They’re expansion material for those who want to keep following some adventure set in this universe. Had the attempted reboot been about Velasquez attempt to return to the land of the living, that would’ve been a far better idea than banking of Tom Cruise’s name to kickstart the Dark Universe.
The Mummy Animated Series
The Mummy Animated SeriesTechnically, this spinoff exists in its own universe and that’s perfectly fine. Here, Rick is blonde and Evie is spelled Evy. Despite the similarities, Imhotep escaped the Afterlife and is hell-bent on taking vengeance upon the O’Connell family! While the stories are sort of Ancient Egypt-centric, it tries to explain how other mythologies from the Mediterranean come together. Although the concept was off, I still ate it up when it was on broadcast television. Sadly, it didn’t last long due to it getting bumped off the air with the networks had other sports programming to get through. Love the series or not, the premise was okay and thankfully it at least tried to connect with the second film since Alex wore a bracer. But instead of being a map tool, it’s magical, and he was like a Robin to nobody’s Batman.
The Mummy Chronicles
Thankfully the books released to keep this franchise alive are much better. Here, there’s an attempt to offer some educational material which made buying and reading these books by Dave Wolverton a rather good read. I appreciate these releases a lot more because the ideas presented kept things within the scope of why we love Ancient Egypt so much. Only four books were offered, and they are still available to purchase on Amazon.
