The Mummy

So we come to my 3rd film, and the one of the first ones I remember seeing: The Mummy. Truly one of those childhood gems that you never get tired of.

The Mummy came out back in 1999 and stars Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr. I would normally tell you who the director is at this point, but let's just say he's the guy who brought us Van Helsing and Deep Rising. I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.

As you may have guessed from the title, the movie takes part in Egypt. In the opening, we see a priest called Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who is engaged in an affair with the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I, Ankh-Sun-Amun (Patricia Velásquez). When this is discovered by the Seti, Ankh commits suicide, intending to be resurrected by Imhotep in Hamunaptra, the City Of The Dead. But when Seti's guards catch them, Imhotep's men are sentenced to be mummified alive, while Imhotep is forced to endure the Hom Dai, a ritual that causes eternal suffering, but if he is ever brought back to life, he will be an immortal, destructive being, with the ability to unleash the 10 Plagues of Egypt. But that are the odds of THAT happening?

 Sometimes, make-up DOESN'T solve everything

Cut to several thousand years later, and we see our heroine Evelyn (Weisz), an aspiring Egyptologist, as her bumbling brother Johnathan (Hannah) shows her a map he 'found' that leads to Hamunaptra. Finding out that the map belonged to a condemned foreign solider Rick O'Connell (Fraser), who agrees to be their guide after they free him from the noose, they all set of to Hamunaptra, only to find out that a group of American treasure hunters are out to find it as well.

So through a series of digging and grave robbing, our characters uncover both the corpse of Imhotep and the Book of the Dead, which has the power to bring people back from the dead. Yeah, I think you can see where this is going.

So the eponymous baddie is resurrected, and wreaks havoc upon the world. Cue gun-fights, fist-fights explosions and over-the-top special effects.

The film is essentially a stereotypical good vs.evil slug-fest, with the odds always stacked in evil's favour. The enemy is an invincible monster, cant be stopped by anyone. Imagine if The Terminator shaved his head and wore a robe, this is probably what you would get.

Upon it's release the movie was criticised for aspects such as poor script, some hammy acting, over-reliance on CGI and general silliness. The fact is, the movie is silly, but that's one of the things I like about it. It has a lovely and charming goofiness about it. Like films such as The Fast and The Furious, it's not a clever or sophisticated film, but it never pretends to be. It knows exactly what is, a simple, action-packed family adventure, and that's exactly what it gives us. So if you like shameless fun, cool special effects, quirky humour, and want to learn a little about ancient Egypt, then this is the film for you.

The Untouchables

For film number 2, I will be taking a gander at an interesting Kevin Costner movie. Why is it interesting? Because in this one he doesn't bore the crap out of us! But that's not all it has going for it. It's a well paced, well directed and very entertaining flick.

Directed by Brian De Palma (Scarface, Mission: Impossible), and released in 1987, The Untouchables tells the story of Al Capone's (Robert De Niro) domination of the city of Chicago during prohibition-era America. Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) is an agent from the Bureau of Prohibition, charged with stopping Al Capone's criminal reign. But since Capone has most of the city under his thumb, it seems the odds are stacked against him. So he decides to put together a crack team to take him down.

The first future member he encounters is hard-nosed Irish cop Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery, in an Oscar winning performance, despite never once do an Irish accent). He's down-to-earth, dedicated and most importantly, incorruptible. Since so many people have been affected by Capone's influence, they next recruit a trainee officer, George Stone (Andy Garcia), because of his skilled marksmanship and his coolness under pressure. Finally, Ness is assigned an accountant from Washington D.C., Oscar Wallace, (Charles Martin Smith) who informs Ness that despite all the money Capone has accumulated, he has never once filled an income tax return form. So if nothing else, they can snare Capone for Tax Evasion.

So the group, dubbed 'The Untouchables' by an Alderman of Capone's who attempt to bribe Ness,  conduct raids on Capone's assets, including a post office and an exchange at the Canadian Border. Over time the group beings to attract the wrath of Capone's men, resulting in death threats, shoot-outs and even cold-blooded murders.

The group begins to fall apart, but Ness remains determined to finish what he started, and in the end (as I'm sure you know) Capone is brought in front of a judge, with the charges of Tax Evasion being his Achilles Heel. With that, we have the fitting happy ending and one of the coolest lines in the film, as well as one of Costner's best:

Journalist: "The city council may re-appeal Prohibition. What will you do then?"
Ness: "I think I'll have a drink."

Snap!

So, while I certainly don't regard this film as highly as I do Leon (my last review if you haven't read it), I still really enjoy it. The story and characters are engaging, though I would like to have seen more of Capone. But in a way, that does help the movie. Rather than seeing Capone, we see his influence and power, and the effects it has on many of the characters. I don't know if that's whats the filmmakers we're going for, but I think it works. De Niro, as usual, does a great job. You only have to mention the fact that he gained 14kg solely for the film to truly appreciate the effort he made. As well as that, the action scenes are enjoyable, the sets look great, and as I mentioned before Costner manages to overcome his usual dry-toast, monotone blandness and gives a pretty solid performance.

All I can say is, check it out. You won't regret it.

Leon

I decided to think long and hard about what my first movie on this blog should be. I have a list of over 60 films that I want to review, and after a bit of deliberation, I thought it would be fitting to start with one of my all-time favourite movies: Leon, also know as The Professional.

I first seen this movie about 2 years ago while I was at university, and I loved it so much I watched it over and over. I think it deserves to be my first blog review subject.

Released in 1994 under the direction of Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Transporter films), Leon stars Jean Reno as the titular character, and Academy Award winner Natalie Portman (in her film debut) as Mathilda. The film takes place in New York City, where our main character Leon, an Italian immigrant, lives a sheltered life in his apartment. He lives next door to Mathilda and her dysfunctional, abusive family, and while he often overhears their turmoil (such as arguments and domestic violence), he chooses not to get involved.

But one day, while Mathilda is out shopping, her family is visited by local DEA agents, led by Norman Stansfield (an incredible performance by Gary Oldman). We discover that Mathilda's father is a drug holder for him. Believing that he has been cutting their drugs, Stansfield storms into their apartment and kills everyone, including Mathilda's beloved young brother. Returning after a shopping trip to find her family dead, she walks past the devastation and knocks on Leon's door, knowing she will be killed otherwise. Reluctantly, Leon lets her in. Why is he so reticent to have her staying there? Because he happens to be one of the worlds greatest assassins of course!

Being strangely intrigued by this, Mathilda decides that she wants Leon to teach her how to be a 'cleaner' in order to avenge her brothers murder. And so begins one of the most dynamic, idiosyncratic on-screen relationships in cinema.

The film follows the 2 main characters as they attempt to come to terms with how each other lives. Think Trading Places but with a 12 year old-girl and a middle age hired killer.

As the film progress, we see the 2 growing closer, as Leon decides to take her on some of his 'jobs', teaching her how to clean. In exchange, she teaches him how to read, and does menial work for him such as cleaning.

The main characters and their interactions is what makes this film so enjoyable to watch. It's a classic mismatched pairing, but done under such unique circumstances. In 1 scene, Mathilda reveals she is in love with Leon, a sentiment he does not reciprocate.

The DVD version I own is know as the extended version which contains roughly 10 scenes that were removed from the cinematic release. These scenes, while notably controversial, are, to me some of the best for developing the bond between our protagonists. These deleted scenes include Leon showing Mathilda how to use a rifle; Mathilda playing Russian Roulette to convince Leon to let her join him; and undoubtably the most questionable scene, where Mathilda asks Leon to be her first sexual partner. Yeah, bit of a PC no-no.

The movies climax is one of the most entertaining spectacles in film history, and one of the highlights of the movie. I don't want to ruin it for you, but needless to say, it's unforgettable, and wraps up the film up perfectly.

I love this film. Love the characters, the acting, the action scenes, the dialogue, everything it has to offer. Jean Reno gives a gentle and heart-warming performance as our enigmatic antihero, and Natalie Portman gives an acting turn that I didn't think a child actor ever could. And of course we have the ever-reliable Gary Oldman, giving an amusing and often unsettling performance as our villain. Anyone that can make a speech about classical music after killing several innocent people is, in my book, a true badass.

My recommendation, check this film out. It's a great experience as well as a great film. It's sure to leave a lasting impact on you.