Borrowing the plot of the old movie, the high priest Imhotep is condemned to forever be cursed for having a torrid love affair with the Pharaoh's mistress, Anck-Su-Namun. He is given a ritual burial, which involves being buried alive in a coffin full of flesh-eating scarabs. This gives the movie a chance to show itself off as fashionable horror, not going into the extremely graphic details while giving us slight chills in the spine. This will carry on throughout the rest of the film, which is one of its better aspects.

Moving ahead in the film to the 1930's, Rick O'Connell, a roughneck who also has his charms, crosses paths with librarian Evelyn Carnahan and her gold-digging brother Jonathon, who has a map that leads to the ancient city of Hamunaptra. O'Connell agrees to take them there, and soon, it becomes a race of who will get there first to retrieve the treasure rumored to be hidden there. Upon investigating the interiors of the city, they come across a book, and soon they unleash Imhotep and all of his curses on the world. This is the point at which the movie becomes a race against time to stop the mummy before he completes the steps to becoming whole again.

The movie has a lot going for it, and the fact that it realizes its status as an action adventure/romance is what keeps it going. The movie never really stops moving; there are certain scenes that move a bit slower to allow for character development and such, but this movie is mostly fast-paced action and thrills, delivering a tense and throttling experience which will make you cheer and smile. When the plagues begin descending upon the land, our heroes must move even faster to stop the curse, and as they do, so does the movie.

The movie is undeniably fun. There is a lot of comic relief thrown into the mix of the plot, and is a combination of one-liners from characters as well as goofy body language and actions which will have you rolling with laughter. The character of Beni is the centerpiece for the comic relief; he is the turncoat who deserts the Americans to aide Imhotep in his search for the items he needs to regenerate. He is cumbersome and gangly, and the quiver in his voice is a riot. one scene in particular involves Beni pulling out a collection of sacred symbols and chanting foreign verses to try and ward of the mummy. Comic genius!

There are a lot of special effects employed for this film, and they do well in telling the story where regular camera shots could not. The most stunning of these effects is the ongoing regeneration of the mummy, who goes from moldy, rotting corpse to partial skin and muscles, slowing becoming whole. The many layers of his body are seen in meticulous detail, each movement matched to the specific body part. These effects are seamless, and work very well in this film. Most of the other effects involve the plagues brought down by Imhotep, which include immense sandstorms and flocks of scarabs. The scarabs are the most believable effect here, and through animation, the filmmakers are able to create thousands of them, creating the illusion that danger comes in numbers.

There is also some moments that border on the extreme, but not entirely, and the movie is admirable in the way that it does not cross that line. The regeneration sequences show Imhotep's form as being dried out instead of wet and gooey, which makes us go "Ew" without making us vomit. As Imhotep takes his victims one by one, the filmmakers show this by using lots of sound effects and creating the illusion instead of showing us the actual event. All we see are the leftovers, which, like Imhotep, are dry and decrepit.

The cast employed for the movie is remarkable, and gives us one of the best performances for a film of this genre ever. Brendan Fraser plays Rick O'Connell, and he is the ideal embodiment of an action hero. He's not so much a young Indianna Jones as he is his own action figure, and his character becomes something for other action heroes to be modeled after. Rachel Weisz is sweet and humorous as the lovely Evelyn, and she also makes a remarkable damsel in distress as well. She has guts, which is wonderfully portrayed in her acting ability and charisma. Arnold Vosloo plays the evil Imhotep, the perfect person for the role. He makes us believe in the fact that the mummy is not really evil; he is only doing what he was destined to do by reviving his long-lost love. Two of the supporting roles, John Hannah as Jonathon, Evelyn's brother, and Kevin J. O'Conner as Beni, do a masterful job of adding comedy and liveliness to the story,

As a serious horror film, "The Mummy" would not be as good. It would seem more confused and muddled. It's light-heartedness and comedy make it something better, giving us a healthy, even balance of laughs, thrills and chills. It's a movie for young and old alike, and becomes an interesting spin on the original. It gives the old story a fresh look while keeping the old scare tactics used before. It's just plain fun!