Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Omid Djalili, Patricia Velasquez
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Seti's High Priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is in love with Seti's beautiful mistress Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velasquez). Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun kill Seti, and Anck-Su-Namun kills herself while Imhotep escapes from Seti's Medjai guards. Imhotep and his priests steal Anck-Su-Namun's body and take her to Hamanaptra, City of the Dead. Using the Book of the Dead, they try to resurrect her, but fail when the Medjai track them down. While Imhotep's priests are mummified alive, Imhotep is mummified and cursed with the Hom-Dai. If Imhotep is resurrected, he will bring the Ten Plagues, which God used in the Biblical times. The Plagues were: locusts, flies, frogs, water turning into blood, fiery hail, cattle disease, wild beasts, the sun turning black, boils and sores, and death of the first-born sons.
In the early 1920s, Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and evil, cowardly Beni Gabor (Kevin J. O'Connor) are French Legion soldiers in a French Legion battle against Tuaregs at Hamanaptra. Beni leaves Rick to die but Rick survives and is taken to Cairo prison. British librarian Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) convince the warden to free Rick in exchange for Rick agreeing to take them to Hamanaptra. The treacherous Beni leads three Americans and an Egyptologist to Hamanaptra as well. The greedy warden is killed by a flesh-eating scarab beetle during his own treasure hunt. The Medjai warriors, led by Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr), warn Rick and Beni's groups to leave, but they refuse. Beni's group finds a cursed chest containing the Book of the Dead and five sacred canopic jars containing Anck-Su-Namun's organs, but Beni flees from the chamber before his employers open the chest. Beni has spared himself from the fate his employers will suffer. Imhotep will kill all who open the chest, assimilating their organs and fluids, which will help him regenerate into his human form.
Rick's group finds the Mummy Imhotep, and Evelyn borrows the Book of the Dead from the Egyptologist. Reading from it, Evelyn accidentally awakens Imhotep, who brings the Plagues with him. During the chaos, Beni becomes Imhotep's henchman and Imhotep kills the three Americans and the Egyptologist, fully regenerating himself. Meeting Rick's group in Cairo, Ardeth Bay agrees to help Rick and his friends defeat Imhotep, but Imhotep captures Evelyn with Beni's help. Imhotep will return to Hamanaptra and sacrifice Evelyn to resurrect Anck-Su-Namun, and the greedy Beni will be allowed to take as much treasure as he wants from the treasure chamber.
Both villains must be stopped if Evelyn is to be rescued. Beni is the only survivor of his group, and he doesn't care who gets killed in the final battle, so long as he gets the treasure. Rick, Ardeth, and Jonathan find the gold Book of Amun Ra, which is capable of killing Imhotep.
Continuity mistake: In the scene in the library, when Evie is putting back the books. She leans over to put the book back, but it falls to the ground and she is balancing on the ladder. When the camera cuts back to show the whole ladder, the book is nowhere to be found on the floor. (00:13:00)
Evelyn: You were actually at Hamunaptra?
Rick: Yeah, I was there.
Evelyn: You swear?
Rick: Every damn day.
Trivia: An explanation for why there is no salt acid booby-trap protecting the gold book like there was protecting the black book. In the missing scene some of Imhotep's priests burst through the floor/ground and attack Jonathan and Rick, who get tossed aside. The priests then open the gold book's hiding place and get burned all up by the salt acid. You can even see when Rick grabs the TNT that there is smoke rising from the hole.
Question: Do the symbols / markings on Ardeth Bay's face mean anything?
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Chosen answer: The tattoos on his forehead are the Egyptian Hieroglyphs that spell "Underworld", and the ones on his cheeks are the Egyptian Hieroglyphs for the word "truth." All Medjai males get these tattoos as part of the coming-of-age rite, when they turn sixteen, of which the most important is the tattoo on their right wrist (which Rick O'Connell also has) that marks them as "warriors for God." Other tattoos specific to Medjai males are on their arms, forearms, hands, pectorals, shoulder blades and beneath the navel - the tattoos on the nose and chin are no longer used, since the time of Seti I. Medjai females only get the wrist tattoo when they come of age, but are not marked with any of the other symbols that are particular to men. Fun fact: If the Medjai - male and female alike - shows any sign of pain or cries during the tattooing process, it is considered that they have brought shame to their family.