The Mummy (1999)
The salient point of this podcast episode centers on an in-depth analysis of the film "The Mummy," a cinematic work that, despite its perceived flaws, maintains a high level of entertainment value. We commence our discourse by acknowledging the film's remarkable cast and its capacity to evoke laughter and enjoyment, transcending the boundaries of conventional cinematic critique. The conversation traverses various themes, including the juxtaposition of humorous character interactions and the film's overarching narrative, which, while riddled with inconsistencies, captivates audiences nonetheless. As we delve deeper, we reflect on the chemistry between the cast members and the film's ability to elicit genuine affection for its characters, even those with dubious motives. Ultimately, we arrive at a consensus that "The Mummy" embodies a unique blend of action, comedy, and nostalgia, warranting its status as a beloved classic among viewers.
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Transcript
The first thing he goes with is, oh, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, that's a new one.
Speaker A:The Neener.
Speaker A:Ner.
Speaker B:Ner.
Speaker B:Welcome to the what's a Ver Podcast, where we fashion ourselves cinematic judge and jury.
Speaker B:My name is J.J. crowder.
Speaker B:I'm here with my co host, Alec Burgess.
Speaker A:Let's get it.
Speaker B:We appreciate you tuning in.
Speaker B:Go and hit that.
Speaker B:Follow subscribe like bell notification buttons.
Speaker B:Tell a friend about us.
Speaker B:Tell a family member about us.
Speaker B:You can tell a cool historian about us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Don't tell no mummies about us.
Speaker B:Yeah, don't tell this kind of borderline.
Speaker B:Like there's people in this.
Speaker B:You could tell about us, but it's.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:There's a side where you're like, don't do that.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't need beetle owning mummies in my life or giant sand world eating.
Speaker B:I'm out.
Speaker B:But if you want to tell o', Connor, you know, he's fun.
Speaker B:You can tell Rachel Vice about me anytime.
Speaker B:I don't want to deal with her husband.
Speaker B:He's kind of a badass.
Speaker B:He was James Bond for a minute.
Speaker B:So I'm out.
Speaker B:Anyway, I'm Rambo.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I digress.
Speaker B:Yeah.
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Speaker B:There it is.
Speaker B:So let's jump into week two of July, our blockbuster month fitting time for us to do this.
Speaker B:And we're jumping into another movie.
Speaker B:I was gonna say something that doesn't necessarily fit with how I feel about it.
Speaker A:It's an older movie.
Speaker A:Same time.
Speaker A:I had a theme.
Speaker B:Yeah, you did.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:It was written and directed by Stephen Summers.
Speaker B:It stars Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O', Connor, Jonathan Hyde, Eric Avari, Odette Fair, Stephen Dunham, Corey Johnson.
Speaker B:Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:And I'm just going to stop it with Patricia, Patricia Velasquez.
Speaker B:But I could keep going.
Speaker B:It's quite the cast list.
Speaker B:And it's about.
Speaker B:At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunuptra.
Speaker A:Who?
Speaker B:Hamunuptra.
Speaker B:I always it up.
Speaker B:An American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to weak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long lost love.
Speaker B:That was quite the synopsis.
Speaker B:These blockbusters get these big long that are quite detailed.
Speaker B:Everybody's got to get on IMDb and like first I did it.
Speaker B:That's my synopsis.
Speaker B:Yeah, the Mummy.
Speaker A:Another.
Speaker B:Listen, it fits the theme.
Speaker B:Another movie of yours.
Speaker B:Tell us why you picked it, Alec.
Speaker A:This one was mostly because it's one of my wife's favorite movies.
Speaker A:She absolutely loves this.
Speaker A:But it's similar to what we did last week in the sense that it's very much like done grilling, done in the pool, hop on out, go in, watch a movie that just you can put on, you can laugh at bits.
Speaker A:It's got that kind of drama filled comedy in and of itself.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But the one thing where it kind of differs is I think Kevin J. O' Connor steals.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker A:He is my favorite in this movie and he does such a good job.
Speaker A:And even though he steals most scenes that he's in, he's not in enough scenes to like steal the movie.
Speaker A:So you still have your lead actors be able to you know, kind of take over and you know, showcase what they're made of.
Speaker A:But I, I love this movie.
Speaker A:So even though it's one of her favorites, it's like also one of mine to where I can sit down and just.
Speaker A:I don't have the same like feel that she does about it, but I can sit down, watch this cackle, laugh, think it's funny.
Speaker A:It's quotable as hell.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like we use the looks to me like I got all the horses and looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river.
Speaker A:When we're about and about, you know, just dealing with our daily day lives, probably freaking people out the entire time, but it's just one of those things where we're.
Speaker A:This is such an integral part of it and it's such a good movie.
Speaker A:What about you?
Speaker A:Have you seen it before?
Speaker B:A few times.
Speaker B:Listen, this movie is like.
Speaker B:This one's a struggle for me because there are parts that I love.
Speaker B:And to your point, o', Connell, he, yeah, completely, utterly steals every scene he's in, but John Hannah does the same.
Speaker B:Like, and I love him in everything he does.
Speaker B:Like, he's always a scene stealer for me.
Speaker B:And he's never been, like, much of a lead, but he's always been a part that you're like, he just outdid you.
Speaker B:You guys should step up your game because he's this B list supporting actor, but every movie, like, I. Yeah, there's a couple that he was more of a lead in.
Speaker B:But, like, anyway, I love him in this.
Speaker B:Objectively, to me, this is not a good movie.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker B:If again, I go back a couple weeks ago, we were talking about objectively versus subject.
Speaker B:Objectively, it's not a good movie.
Speaker B:The dialogue's corny as the acting is okay most of the time the story itself is ridiculous, but it works much to my chagrin.
Speaker B:Like, I can't watch this movie and.
Speaker B:And be bored or be upset at what I'm watching.
Speaker B:Like, I want to be.
Speaker B:Mentally, I tell myself, oh, my God, this is terrible.
Speaker B:But then I go, but I'm having a good time.
Speaker B:And that's the part that I'm like, okay, so all in all, if I take the objectivity out of it and you get subjective with it, like, it's a good film because it's funny, it's entertaining, it's paced really well, and it.
Speaker B:It doesn't need a story because it's full of action and comedy and endearing characters that you want to succeed.
Speaker B:And you even find yourself feeling a little bit for, like, Imhotep and, like, the whole situation that the Mummy's gone through.
Speaker B:And, like, you're like, oh, that sucks.
Speaker B:You were an.
Speaker B:But that still sucks.
Speaker A:Like, yeah, no, thank you.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're a dick and I understand why you got up.
Speaker B:However, the response may have been a little extreme.
Speaker A:Like, I would say definitely.
Speaker B:So, yeah, he's so, so.
Speaker B:So the fact that you can find yourself.
Speaker B:I find myself, anyway, rooting for all of These characters, even the bad guy, on some level, like, is.
Speaker B:It turns the movie around.
Speaker B:Like, again, I don't.
Speaker B:I want to hate this movie, but I like it, and I can't help myself.
Speaker B:And then it's like.
Speaker B:And we're not doing the sequels, but there's sequels to this that I'm like.
Speaker B:And one of them, I'm like, this is even worse than the first one, objectively, but I'm just as entertained.
Speaker B:Then there was another one.
Speaker B:I was like, that.
Speaker B:You jumped the shark with this one.
Speaker B:And so this one just sucks.
Speaker B:And it has all the pieces, but you've.
Speaker B:You've.
Speaker B:You've overdone it.
Speaker B:But as an.
Speaker B:As a first in a trilogy of movies, soon to be a quadrilogy of movies, it works because Brendan Fraser is not a good actor, but he's lovable.
Speaker B:Rachel Weiss is a phenomenal actress, and she's lovable.
Speaker B:And then this.
Speaker B:The bit characters in this, like, the side characters, your supporting cast is outrageous, and they're so good that you're like, can I.
Speaker B:Can I go?
Speaker B:I wanna.
Speaker B:I wanna go.
Speaker A:I wanna go.
Speaker B:Yeah, I want to go run away or go after or try to stop emotep.
Speaker B:Like, I don't want to fucking hang out with the Beatles, but I want to, you know, I want to be part of this crew.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I think the theme for me with Brendan Frazier is he's really good to me if he has somebody else he can play off of.
Speaker B:True.
Speaker A:Because, like, you know, the one that comes to mind is, like, George of the Jungle.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Not worth it.
Speaker A:But it's mostly just him.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And then in the scenes where it's just him and this.
Speaker A:Not that great, but they almost never have a scene where it's just him.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he always has someone to play off of, whether it's Benny or it's Jonathan or it's, you know, Rachel Weiss character.
Speaker A:Like, there's somebody he can talk to or play off of, which elevates him into the spot that he.
Speaker A:That he can do really well at.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A: logue, which the CGI they did: Speaker A:It was pretty good.
Speaker A:I'm showing Ancient Egypt, right?
Speaker A:So you get this kind of like, oh, this is some hardcore shit, right, that's going down.
Speaker A:And then you fast forward to the French Foreign Legion, and it's the first person who gets any dialogue.
Speaker A:And this is Benny.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Your strength gives me strength.
Speaker A:And from there you're just kind of like, what?
Speaker A:And then it just takes a hard left after you get this really kind of dramatic opening.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And now you're like, oh, no, this is a funny kind of haha movie.
Speaker A:And it just.
Speaker A:Everybody, again, gets their time in the limelight.
Speaker A:You have Rachel Weis knocking over the library almost immediately afterwards, and.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker A:Then you have that interaction where it's.
Speaker A:You're a catastrophe.
Speaker A:Like, you're worse than the 10 plagues that we had.
Speaker A:Like, that's the end result of this.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Then you just.
Speaker A:Every time that you get a new character, it's.
Speaker A:It's the.
Speaker A:The way I like it is like, it's the WWE Royal Rumble.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Every new person who comes in gets their time in the limelight, their 30 seconds or whatever it is to kind of hit whatever they want to before they go in the corner and start punching each other real soft.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:Because every single time you get a new character that gets introduced, they get this almost screen time where it's focused entirely on them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so the warden is another one, right.
Speaker A:Where just.
Speaker A:He has five minutes screen time.
Speaker A:But those five minutes are incredibly enjoyable because of just.
Speaker A:He's just sending it to the moon.
Speaker A:He's like, I'm just gonna have some fun with this.
Speaker A:And the prison sequences are some of the best.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:In this.
Speaker A:Where it's just like, almost a joke or it's joking about something that should be really concerning in a dramatic film, but it's not, because it's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:He said he has to let it be, like, go.
Speaker A:No, we're not letting him go.
Speaker A:It just.
Speaker A:It just piles on and becoming more and more ridiculous as the movie goes on.
Speaker A:But it always goes back to Kevin o'.
Speaker A:Connor.
Speaker A:And I almost have to wonder if his part was a lot smaller.
Speaker A:And then they.
Speaker A:They realize, like, oh, wait, we got something here.
Speaker A:Because almost every single time he's on screen, it's like doing the same exact thing, Right.
Speaker A:Being the Weasley punchline.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And at the most ridiculous times, like.
Speaker A:Like the end or near the end, where they're being chased by the zombie hordes.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's like, you're gonna get yours, Benny.
Speaker A:And just.
Speaker A:Oh, like, I've never heard that before.
Speaker A:Like, that conversation has no business in this kind of intense zombie chase that we have going on where we already know the stakes of what Imhoteps can do.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, this has no business being here.
Speaker A:The first thing he goes with is.
Speaker A:Oh, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, that's a new one.
Speaker A:And so it's the little moments like that where, yeah, you could look at this and be like, yeah, this.
Speaker A:This should be a terrible movie.
Speaker A:It should be a movie that I did not enjoy.
Speaker A:That doesn't make any sense at all.
Speaker A:But somehow the pieces they put into place is like, oh, it actually works.
Speaker B:Yeah, there's.
Speaker A:There's really no rhyme or reason to why it works.
Speaker A:And there's some really bad bits.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:In it that I'm just kind of like, you know, like watching it back.
Speaker A:You're like, wow, that was.
Speaker A:That was a missed.
Speaker A:Missed something there.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:But it's.
Speaker A:It still works overall.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it absolutely should not like.
Speaker B:Okay, so I'll say this.
Speaker B:You brought up something that.
Speaker B:Like the cgi.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Some of it really good.
Speaker B:And like, you said, like, the sprawling landscapes and then like the mo.
Speaker B:The zombie hordes or whatever, the Mummy, like the.
Speaker B:The freaking jackals that are.
Speaker B:That shit's dope as the big goddamn face in the dust and the, like, dope as the close up of like, Emotep's face when it's coming.
Speaker B:God, it's terrible.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And then you go to like, the second one and it's even worse because they had like the whole.
Speaker B:The Scorpion King with the right.
Speaker B:It was horrid.
Speaker B:So I. I do get a little frustrated by that part of the movie because I.
Speaker B: e done stuff like this before: Speaker B:So there's a part of me that I go, what did you do with your budget?
Speaker B:Was it because of all the sprawling landscapes that you did in CGI that then you had to like, trim it down?
Speaker B:Or was the technology actually not there and you committed to doing cgi?
Speaker B:So you left off some of like, the practical effects because a lot of times, like those kind of facial melting kind of has been done with like a CGI plus practical, at least prior to this movie.
Speaker B:And I think you've seen a lot less of it.
Speaker B:But you can always tell then there's movies where you're like, no, you forced this to be CGI because you thought that was the cheapest way to do it in the most efficient way.
Speaker B:But it looks like.
Speaker B:And this was one of the.
Speaker B:The first cases when I think about, like, this one stands out when people ask about terrible cgi.
Speaker B:This is one of the movies I listen to.
Speaker B:There's a few of them, but this one is one.
Speaker B:Because I'm like, this is bad.
Speaker B:And there were movies that were doing similar at the same time that weren't bad.
Speaker B:So I'm like, what happened?
Speaker B:Somewhere there was a budget piece that was like, up, or there was a commitment to full CGI that was held on to.
Speaker B:In.
Speaker B:In pure stubbornness or for some reason.
Speaker B:And I don't know, I'm speculating here, but like, that's the kind of.
Speaker B:Every time I watch this movie, the first thing I always ask is like, I want to know why.
Speaker B:Like, can somebody tell me why this movie made a commitment on some level that.
Speaker B:And I don't know, maybe it comes back to Stephen Summers was just like, this is what I want to do.
Speaker B:But I don't know, like, because it.
Speaker B:It's bothersome.
Speaker B:Like it's bad.
Speaker B:When it's bad, it's bad.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:It's distracting.
Speaker B:And I'm like, am I watching?
Speaker B:And again, it's not just this movie.
Speaker B:There are plenty of movies that have done this, but like, even the Matrix too.
Speaker B:Like, there's part.
Speaker B:I'm like, really?
Speaker B:This is terrible.
Speaker B:But yeah, it bothers me.
Speaker B:That's one of my biggest.
Speaker B:That's probably my biggest gripe with this film is I can get over the goofiness and the.
Speaker B:The lack of story cohesion in some places.
Speaker B:But like the cgi, when it's terrible, especially with emotep, I'm like, oh my God, this looks just horrendous.
Speaker B:Like when he's not fully.
Speaker A:The scarabs together and every.
Speaker B:I'm like, ah, it looks bad.
Speaker B:Like bad.
Speaker A:I almost thought it was more of.
Speaker A:They came in under budget with cgi, so they were like, oh, hey, let's just take up the remaining of the budget.
Speaker A:Because I think it would have been really cool if they did use practical effects where you have the half and half.
Speaker A:Because that.
Speaker A:That's one that's just like.
Speaker A: obably looked a lot better in: Speaker A:But yeah, like when you're watching it now, it's like, oh, that is bad.
Speaker A:But this, like, I like the original stuff or the opening sequence I think is great.
Speaker A:But yeah, the mummy bits, there's some like, eh.
Speaker A:But I'll tell you what else what gets me is because I start, you know, if I watch a movie and you give me the opportunity to be like, wait a minute, I pull myself right out as I'm thinking.
Speaker A:But it gets me every single time that his first victim of the Americans, right?
Speaker A:He Takes the eyes and the tongue.
Speaker A:He takes the eyes from the guy who cannot see.
Speaker A:And I know why they did it, right?
Speaker A:Because you need to start making him look human.
Speaker A:Being able to see and being able to talk are the two ways.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the best way to get the guy is to get the guy with the glasses.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Makes it easy.
Speaker A:But this guy's eyesight is so bad, he can't see without his thick Coke bottle glasses.
Speaker A:And then all of a sudden, that's like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna need those.
Speaker A:And we're fine now.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're back.
Speaker A:That one gets me.
Speaker A:And then the whole idea behind just the, you know.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, it's a.
Speaker A:This curse that he gets is the, you know, this undead curse.
Speaker A:But he's really dead until you read from the book that we conveniently placed near to hand just for you.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The plot, McGuffin, is strong with this one,.
Speaker A:So there's.
Speaker A:There's plenty of little things like that.
Speaker A:But aside from Kevin J. O', Connor, I love seeing Bernard Fox show up because I know him from old tv.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So having him be Raf just.
Speaker A:I was like, hey, it's Colonel Crittenden.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And so I was.
Speaker A:Every time I watch him, like they had an opportunity to do something really funny here and just make a.
Speaker A:Make a mention of someone, you know, make a mention of Crittenden, and it'd be beautiful.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But him just being an old, washed up Raf pilot, like the last one stationed.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's fantastic.
Speaker A:Cracks me up.
Speaker B:It's fantastic.
Speaker A:And it's like, I. I love seeing that because he is so good.
Speaker A:And this was one of his last movies.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker B:And so it might have been his last, but it was definitely one of them.
Speaker A:It's one of.
Speaker A:One of the near ones.
Speaker A:But he just does such a good job.
Speaker A:And again, he has me maybe a couple minutes of screen.
Speaker A:Total screen time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But in that he becomes one of my favorite people to watch.
Speaker A:It's like, ah, love it.
Speaker A:Love seeing them again on screen.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Winston.
Speaker B:And what a name.
Speaker A:It's about as stereotypical as you can get for an old school RAF pilot.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No kidding.
Speaker A:One of those movies where it's like, all the pieces are really good in my.
Speaker B:Yeah, there's.
Speaker A:And then you put them together or the pieces.
Speaker A:It's hard to.
Speaker A:Maybe the pieces aren't all good, but you put them together and somehow they are.
Speaker A:Like if you watch it in a vacuum.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think that's the difference is like, and again, I go back to it.
Speaker B:It shouldn't work.
Speaker B:It shouldn't, but it does.
Speaker B:Like, somehow I find myself going, okay, that was funny.
Speaker B:Okay, that was fun.
Speaker B:That was entertaining.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:It was just.
Speaker A:Yeah,.
Speaker B:But it does.
Speaker B:It shouldn't, but it does.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:And I have to give it credit that, like, you can just.
Speaker B:And I think, okay, this is why I think it works.
Speaker B:Like, deep down, I think it works.
Speaker B:Because the other thing that you can tell from, like, an.
Speaker B:Outside of a movie looking in, they had fun making this movie.
Speaker B:And there was a lot of chemistry even to today.
Speaker B:Like, they remaked a new version of the Mummy with Tom Cruise, and from.
Speaker B:From again, outside looking in, it should have been good and it wasn't.
Speaker B:But there wasn't that same level of entertainment.
Speaker B:Like, they tried to be too serious with that movie.
Speaker B:And we had this comparison.
Speaker B:Like, it failed, I think, by comparison, because when you watch this movie, it's fun, it's entertaining, and you can tell that the actors and those that were involved in this movie were having a good time doing it and they wanted it to be successful and they wanted each other to be successful.
Speaker B:Like, it just felt like one of those in the.
Speaker B:And you see these guys together today, 20 years later, whatever, and they still have that same.
Speaker B:Like, you watch them interact, you're like, okay, so there was a good community in this film.
Speaker B:And to me, we don't talk enough about that in Hollywood.
Speaker B:Like, some of the best movies that I can think of, good, bad, indifferent, whether I like them or not, you can tell that there was synergy and there was like.
Speaker B:There was a level of, like, respect and enjoyment of each other on the film and that.
Speaker B:That they talk all the time about.
Speaker B:Like, I can't.
Speaker B:The words escaping me.
Speaker B:But, like, anyway, they.
Speaker B:They get along and they enjoy each other and it's a good community within the film and that impacts the film.
Speaker B:You can't help but have that come across on camera.
Speaker B:When there's chemistry between the actors and even between the director and the.
Speaker B:The cast and all those things.
Speaker B:It just, I think, is what sets apart a movie like this that shouldn't be good, but is.
Speaker B:I think that has a lot to do with it.
Speaker B:And again, that's my opinion.
Speaker B:But when I think about what sets this movie apart from other movies that are bad and they are bad, not should be bad and are good, that's one of the things that sticks out to me, is that you can tell these guys had a good time making this film and that came across and then it was a good enough, interesting enough story, and there was enough funny and enough scary and enough awkward and weird that it just plays through.
Speaker B:And then you can't help but go, okay, that was entertaining.
Speaker A:I think you can see it in the by play right in the back and forth that you get.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Like Brendan Fraser and Jon Hamm.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or John Hannah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where they talk about going back and forth.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That.
Speaker A:And then the same thing.
Speaker A:Brendan Frazier and Kevin o', Connor, where it's just the back and forth.
Speaker A:You can.
Speaker A:There's a little zing on every little insult that happens.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:To where it's just.
Speaker A:It feels a lot more natural than just a couple people reading lines.
Speaker B:Agreed.
Speaker A:Or there, you know, there's that animosity that's in there because you don't like each other right now, but there's still the fact that you guys have done quite a bit together.
Speaker A:So you have that kind of extra second or third chance for Benny that, you know, he's.
Speaker A:He's a weasel.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Throughout the entire thing.
Speaker A:But you have that back and forth where even at the end, Brendan Frazier is reaching out to try and pull Benny through.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:At the end of it, just.
Speaker A:And then you get the great recurring line, which is, goodbye, Benny.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:The back and forth is where I think it really excels.
Speaker A:Like, the.
Speaker A:You can hear the kind of, you know, anger in the.
Speaker A:In the river where it's, you know.
Speaker A:Hey, o', Connell, looks like I got all the horses.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Just the shoot bag.
Speaker A:Oh, it looks like you're on the wrong side of the river.
Speaker A:And then just taking that moment to look around, just like you can feel the emotion that's in there.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:Or it's has that anger, it has that animosity back and forth.
Speaker A:But at the same time, you can tell that it's also just like, we're that enemy right now.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But given enough time or whatever, like, you know, my little buddy Benny's gonna be coming back around.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Like, it's.
Speaker A:I love to hate you type of a thing.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Or I'm not concerned with trying to change who you are.
Speaker A:I'll just wait for you to circle back.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:There's just a lot going on, and they do.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like you said, like, there's.
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:It's a good call out, too, because there's.
Speaker B:There's always something happening to fill the.
Speaker B:What could give you time to think about what you're watching.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:And then because you don't get that.
Speaker A:Time, you overlook a lot of sins.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You let a lot of go, and you're like, okay, that was funny.
Speaker B:That was funny.
Speaker B:All right, should we rate it?
Speaker A:Let's do it.
Speaker A:All right, go ahead.
Speaker A:Movie.
Speaker A:I'm gonna give this one three and a half.
Speaker A:Probably get me knifed in the dark.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's one of those where I can.
Speaker A:I can't sit down and watch it, like, all the time.
Speaker A:But it's one that I will Google or YouTube clips of because I cannot get enough of Benny.
Speaker A:It's just everything he's in, in this movie is just so funny, so off the cuff.
Speaker A:You can sit there and you're like, every.
Speaker A:Everybody knows a Benny, right?
Speaker A:We've all known a Benny at one point in time.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And then you throw in the other, you know, Jonathan, Hannah, and it's just like in any other movie like this, the way he plays, he'd be the best character.
Speaker A:But for me, because Benny's in it, he's not true.
Speaker A:So it's like you have this list of side characters who would be so great.
Speaker A:This would be their golden achievement.
Speaker A:But there's someone above them in every single situation.
Speaker A:So it's just everybody was elevating that bar.
Speaker A:So it's one that I watch frequently, but it's.
Speaker A:It's a one that might suffer from the amount of times that I have watched.
Speaker A:Because I'm sitting there going, wait a minute.
Speaker A:Why did you take the blind guy's eyes?
Speaker A:Or, you know, hold on a second.
Speaker A:Is he undead or is he dead and resurrected type of a thing?
Speaker A:So there's plenty of little plot holes.
Speaker A:I can be like that don't make no sense.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:Overall, it's good.
Speaker A:It's enjoyable.
Speaker A:And so, I mean, three and a half.
Speaker A:I'll watch it again.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:I'm gonna give it a three.
Speaker B:I think it's better than average because of the entertainment value that comes with it.
Speaker B:I will say that it's not a movie that I go after to watch, like.
Speaker B:But when I do watch it, I'm sadly, I'm disappointed in myself at how entertained I am.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker B:And the fact that, like, there's a lot of things that I can quote from this movie, which means that I've watched it too many times for my own good.
Speaker B:And so, like, that in and of itself, though, is a testament that it's not a bad movie.
Speaker B:But I think there's enough wrong with it that I, as far as whether it's the CGI or like the, the spotty at best story with, like you said, some serious plot holes, if you actually, like, pay attention.
Speaker B:We get the chemistry between the actors and the funny and the action and the.
Speaker B:And then on the flip side, some of the CGI is gorgeous and it's just entertaining from start to finish.
Speaker B:And I think that elevates it to a point where I can't consciously say it sucks.
Speaker B:It's terror.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:Because it's not.
Speaker B:It's funny, it's entertaining, it's.
Speaker B:It's carefree.
Speaker B:Like I, it's one of those ones where I could sit down and watch it.
Speaker B:You can watch with kids or you can watch it yourself.
Speaker B:You can and have a good time.
Speaker B:So I, I can't just poo poo all over it.
Speaker B:But, but I can certainly say that I, I'm not a fan of myself when I tell.
Speaker B:Admit how much that I do enjoy when I watch it.
Speaker B:So there's one that I'm watching and going, God damn it, I want to all over this, but I can't because it works.
Speaker B:And then it, like I said, it only got better when they did the remake because the remake just did not have the same soul and life and entertainment value that this one does, as goofy as it is.
Speaker B:So, yeah, three for me.
Speaker B:I'm sure I'll watch it again.
Speaker B:But I, I do my best to go, it's not.
Speaker B:Hey, I go, the Mummy.
Speaker B:No, I'm good.
Speaker B:And then I'm like, okay, this is funny, right?
Speaker A:If someone puts it on, you're like,.
Speaker B:Yeah, damn it, you got me on that deal.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it's funny.
Speaker B:All right, well, there it is.
Speaker B:Alec, tell everybody where they can find us when we're not dodging the armies of the dead.
Speaker A:Happy to.
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Speaker B:Yes, sir.
Speaker B:Thanks, Alec.
Speaker B:Yeah, go check out all the things.
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