5. The Mummy (D) 2017
Links to clips begin around #5 in the sequences below - as these are really the only sequences I'd say are worth your time anyways. Otherwise, you're wading through a lot of average stuff. Enjoy and feel free to comment!
25. "Cruise vs. Mr. Hyde as the Mummy Escapes" -The Mummy (2017)
- Commentary: The movie was already unengaging and lost, but this scene officially put the nail in the coffin. Russell Crowe, Dr. Jekyll, decides he must kill Cruise's character and he allows Mr. Hyde to come out and do the job. While he and Cruise have a visually decent, but ultimately mindless and meaningless fight, the plot goes to heck. The Mummy begins to control others and gets herself out. By the end, Cruise is doing his trademark running sequence (which while admittedly stunning with glass breaking all around him) - but when done in a movie like this that sucks just makes it feel even more cliche. Blech.
23. "Mountain Showdown: Good Guys & Yeti's vs. the Emperor & Bad Guys" -The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
- Commentary: This sequence is a frustrating one. There is a place high in the Himalayas where the Emperor needs to put a diamond to reveal the location of Shangri-La and the O'Connell's want to stop him. There simple plan is to try and hold them off with guns, but if they can't they'll blow the spot where the diamond goes. The bad guys show up, push them back, and Jet Li's Emperor overpowers all of them. To counteract this, one of the ladies helping the O'Connell's calls on Yeti's to help. Just out of the blue, no seeds for this sown earlier, just calls them down. They come to help and the CGI here is not good - nor is the humor - one of them makes a feel goal joke. This sequence on paper could have been a great one, but it's edited to heck, filled with tight shots that obscure the geography, and has one "well that doesn't make much sense" moment after another. Just a lot of stupidity from the writing, the staging, and the direction - despite a lot of money and promise.
22. “Emperor's Grave is Found Along with a Ninja Protector” -The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
- Commentary: Another mini-action sequence from this film with just 1-2 nice little visuals from a ninja until it settles into just a struggle with a painfully slow elevator dropping that might or might not crush someone’s head. Then it’s basically over.
21. “Opening: Emperor Jet Li Takes Out Would Be Assassins” -The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
- Commentary: Decent Jet Li looking action, but it’s just a small teaser of his martial arts skill.
20. “Opening: Scorpion King Army Battle at Thebes” -The Mummy Returns (2001)
- Commentary: Not much to say here except that they spent a lot of money outfitting the Scorpion King’s army for a thirty second sequence. The city of Thebes looks nice in the background too. Just a small part of the opening prologue here – nicely staged, but short.
18. “Escaping Imhotep's Slaves but Losing Evy” -The Mummy (1999)
- Commentary: This sequence has always felt a little transitional and rushed to me. The group here looks to escape Imhotep and his brainwashed slaves who ambush them at the Cairo Museum. The action here doesn’t really pick up until they get in a convertible car and try to escape in the streets. A key member of the group is pulled down and the team eventually hits a dead end. It feels a bit awkward and arbitrary. Like the writers just didn’t know how to get from A to B so they wrote this scene to do it.
17. “Opening: Scorpion King Saves His Brother from Barbarians” -The Scorpion King (2002)
- Commentary: If you didn’t see The Mummy Returns then this is your introduction to the character of the Scorpion King…and rather than the blood thirsty war-monger we got there, this is a wise-cracking Arnold-esque butt-kicker. Scorpion King’s brother is captured and is about to be killed, giving the Rock a chance to enter and take out a bunch of guys by himself. There are a couple nice stunts, good looking set, but the humor and wisecracks don’t feel earned yet. It comes off more like a quick action scene from a television series than from a film.
16. "Escaping a Sacrifice in the Abbey & Ending in a Ditch" -The Mummy (2017)
- Commentary: The directing name of the game here seems to be two-fold: keep it dark and keep it visceral. This sequence is to see Tom Cruise's character escape being sacrificed by the Mummy and getaway with his female doctor friend but the Mummy and her minions are too strong for them. Unfortunately, the desire to make the escape sequence grounded and visceral means we get a lot of in your face shots with Mummy minions (what else to call the random undead following her?) while Cruise is trying to drive away - but the CGI here is not up to par. It's obvious, distracting, and the whole thing is a mess of tones - kinda like the entire movie.
15. “Attempting to Retrieve the Bracelet at O'Connell's Mansion” -The Mummy Returns (2001)
- Commentary: This sequence likely deserves better than a C grade – but there is just something off about it. First, it kinda just happens out of nowhere with our characters stumbling into it – not in good way – but arbitrary way. The bad guys come off as a bit imbecilic when they finger Jonathan for O’Connell and then take a bit before they come to their senses. Second, Ardeth Bay arrives just in time – luckily – and Evy all of a sudden is remembering fight abilities. Evy’s thing is explained later, but it all feels so arbitrary. I like the mansion, the fights are decent, and Fraser again shows that charisma, but there’s just something off here and the kid being a bit oblivious and underwritten is the least of it.
14. “Sandstorm Melee: Mathayas vs. Memnom's Band” -The Scorpion King (2002)
- Commentary: Ever wanted to see The Rock have a “Rambo” moment where he takes out men one by one? Well here it is – except it’s in a sand cavern/cave filled with traps. It’s fun to see Mathayas get a moment on his own terms and be overpowered.
13. “Mummy Comes to Life & Chases Off Diggers” -The Mummy (1999)
- Commentary: The sacred book of the dead is read from by Evy and it brings to life the Mummy Imhotep. A plague of locusts blow in and send the group into the tombs where they encounter the flesh eating scarabs and the revived Mummy. The CGI still holds up well and the practical sets they built look quite adventurous. This is a decent sequence, but nothing special.
- Commentary: Here’s another example where the ambitious reach of the sequel exceeded the grasp. You could see the idea being great on paper – what if we did a nightime sequence just like that moment in The Lost World where the velociraptors attack in the tall grass, except instead of raptors they are little pygmy like mummies that will be both scary and adorable. The opening moments work well until we get a full glimpse of the pygmies and the sequence breaks down. You can tell a lot of care was put into this, with special lighting, sets, and some fun ideas – but the CGI pygmies do not stand up. They look a bit silly and definitely bring down an otherwise fun little sequence.
- Commentary: The sorcerer Memnom has been sweeping the lands and the battered clans hire a small Akkadian group, including Mathayas (the Rock), to assassinate the sorcerer. In this sequence they sneak into the sorcerers camp taking out a few guards along the way. As they approach Memnom’s tenet, guards laying in wait are revealed and the Akkadians are captured except for Mathayas who is able to get into Memnom’s tent, but is captured after a struggle. Workman like sequence, nothing special, but enjoyable.
- Commentary: Ever wanted to see The Rock fight Michael Clark Duncan in an ancient setting? Here’s your chance and it ain’t half bad – though it is pretty basic stuff. High production quality and that we don’t a million edits make for a particularly entertaining fight.
- Commentary: This is the standout action sequence from the ambitious sequel. The director decided to go for broke and while there are bigger sequences in the film, none are pulled off as well as this one. The mummy guards from the original film are back and after the O’Connell’s get away from the British Museum in a double decker bus - the servants go after them. There’s some nice CGI here (that doesn’t look too dated) of the servants running along the buildings to evade gunfire – but they eventually catch up and we get a nice set piece of gunfire and fist fighting in the confines of the two decks – all the while the bus careens through London. The music here evokes a sequence from Indiana Jones rather than the original and I think this one feels more at home there…apart from the supernatural mummies that is.
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