Scorned by critics, but loved by audiences, Universal's remake of its own 1930s classic is actually a lot of fun, its blend of low-rent Indiana Jones-style antics, impressive special effects and inevitably chaste romance scoring high in the risible escapist nonsense department.
Brendan Fraser is the likeable chiselled hero, a Foreign Legion deserter who has to swash and buckle his way through 1920s Egypt when a misguided treasure hunt actually re-awakens an ancient, heavily bandaged and rather unpleasant priest (hey, they actually mummified these people for a reason, you know).
The script is as dumb as they come, relying on the inevitable square-jawed heroics and vaguely distasteful middle-eastern stereotypes for effect, John Hannah is trapped in a thanklessly one-dimensional role, while Rachel Weisz's virginal heroine really doesn't exist for any purposes other than sexual awakening and human sacrifice. However, if you can forgive it its glaring faults and focus on the F/X department's field day, which ranges from morphing evil Egyptian priest types out of sand, to covering pointless extras in rivers of genuinely spine-tingling creepie-crawlies, theres a great evening's entertainment to be had.
