Being a fan of The Rock, and a big fan of the “Mummy” movies I intended to catch this derivative, and I expected it to be awful and thankfully I was pleasantly surprised.
SYNOPSIS
In the time before the pyramids, and before the great Pharaohs, there were tribes in the desert, a melting pot of various cultures as it were. There was also the ever fearsome horde a collection of warriors who follow the strongest warrior and are so militaristic that George W. would be shamed, they are currently led by Memnon (Steve Brand). With his mighty army behind him he is crushing his enemies and so on and is intent on bringing order through chaos (standard bad guy routine). However Memnon’s true power lies with his Sorcerer, so the last of the free tribes hires Akkadians, skilled assassins trained for generations in the deadly arts led by our hero Mathayus (Rock), to kill this Sorcerer. However theirs two twists, first the Sorcerer is a Sorceress called Cassandra (the delectable Kelly Hu) and there’s also a betrayal. Escaping the enemy’s grasp with a horse thief (Grant Heslov), Mathayus treks off to Gomorrah to complete his mission.
THE PLOT
If you thought this was pretty much typical Adventure movie fare, in terms of plot, you’d be pretty close to the truth, it has pretty much all the ear marks of one: the square jawed hero, attractive ladies everywhere (certainly an influence of Vince McMahon) and most of the plot is an acceptable excuse to get our hero into fights. It’s fun, it’s clichéd, and it’s very reminiscent of “Conan” except a lot better and a lot more fun. Although it does tread the well walked path of Action/Adventure if you like a bit of innocent fun you’ll enjoy it. The dialogue isn’t award winning by any means, though there are some great lines:
[Establishing shot of Gomorrah]
Arpid ( The horse Thief): Ah Gomorrah. After a day of looting and pillaging there is no greater city to return to… Except maybe Sodom.
The movie was obviously written with the very old “Sword and Sorcery” style in mind and works well as one. Considering it was written by Steven Sommers it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it’s a mixture of camp (and cheap) humour, like when Rock lands in a Harem(!) and fun action.
CAST
The big question is “Can The Rock sustain a performance as the lead?” In my opinion, yes he can. Admittedly this wasn’t the best performance I’ve ever seen but for a first timer, I’m not going to count Wrestling Pantomime as acting, The Rock was really quite talented and considering other wrestler’s attempts at acting (namely Bill Goldberg or worse Hulk Hogan Shudder) he does quite well. He combines both his physical presence with a charismatic air, and is quite a commanding figure on the big screen, he also has really good timing and gasp some emotions ranging from hurt puppy dog to roguish, a little limited but he can only improve. He does need to tone it down a little, after all less is more on the big screen but is better than most action stars. Brand, a stage actor, is menacing, and gives some depth to a pretty two dimensional villain. Heslov plays the dopey comic relief well, and Michael Clarke Duncan uses up the credibility he gained from “The Green Mile”. The other standout in this movie is actually an actress, I of course refer to the delightfully likeable, and amazingly gorgeous Kelly Hu. She works her heart out in every scene she is in, and while she doesn’t get to flex her muscles as much, she provides a great female lead for everyone to admire, for one reason or another.
PRODUCTION STUFF
Chuck Russel is the king of B movies, which is probably why they brought him in on this project. He has great vision, like when Mathayus gets out of the sand, in fact the introduction for all the characters is great. The music is a brilliant blend of rock, and orchestral giving it is own distinct sound, so in suitable scenes there is a bit of rock included, no pun intended. I like the in your face and real(!) style of action, and for a big production, it doesn’t rely on many big effects, which is a plus. The Rock proves to be a deft hand in the fight sequences, and has some of the most entertaining and impressive combats, with a sword, I’ve seen in a while (sure Lord of The Rings has epic battles but no one shows any panache in these sequence.). The movie is also shot in bit sound stages, or deserts in California, this adds to the whole old school Sword and Sorcery feel of the movie and works in its favour.
OVERALL
There is nothing incessantly wrong with this movie, it just isn’t perfect. In a sense is falls into the same problems that most “Sword and Sorcery” movies encounter, being plain old escapist fun and no more. The team from “The Mummy” deliver great holiday entertainment that’s fun though a little dopey.