So one of the cool things happening with the lack of releases is that we are getting more and more anniversary rereleases, like Brendan Fraser’s underrated The mummy. This Stephen Sommers flick is something I already own on DVD, but without audio description. The rerelease allowed me to experience the audio description, and encouraged me to explore the sequells, also with audio description.

Fraser’s first foray is one of those random moviegoing experiences I still remember. I was actually out of town and my mom dropped me off at the movie theatre, knowing I would be good to go. I double featured Austin powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me with this, which had been in release for a couple of weeks. It was just me and one other guy in the theatre. I remember thinking how the PG-13 rating certainly was walking a fine line, and now as an adult, I look at this film as a great introductory tool for parents to see if their kids are ready for horror films. If your kid can’t sit through this, the Indiana Jones franchise, Pirates of The Caribbean, The Sixth Sense, and some other light action/adventure/horror titles, they can’t handle Hereditary.

Fraser, who has a penchant for apparently saying Yes to anything, lucked out with this Stephen Sommers script, as he actually got really close to creating his own Indiana Jones. He even teamed up with some other side characters, the way Indy does, while always being the center of attention. Like Indy, he even had a very capable love interest in Rachel Weiss. The first film is strong, bolstered by supporting performances from actors like ODed Fehr, and strong 90’s visual effects.

Where the franchise falls off is in its devotion to the same Mummy, in The Mummy Returns, instead of sending them on a new quest, they essentially are haunted in a Return of Jafar type way. the third film does give them a new location, and a new villain, but decided that Rob Cohen would be a better director, which was such a huge mistake. Plus, it is so obvious Maria bello isn’t Rachel Weiss. I would have just left her character at home. Though, one could argue, their kid should have been left behind as well.Fraser is and always will be the heart of this franchise.

The first Mummy has audio description by Deluxe, narrated by KG Tang, and his description is really good. Probably the best example of this is how The mummy’s body slowly comes back as he consumes life, or the wake of the dead bodies he leaves behind. Even with this being borderline horror and PG-13, Tang’s narration embraces what The mummy is.

While the first got a theatrical rerelease, I got the other two off the Apple Store. The Mummy Returns has audio description still by Deluxe, and narrated by the late Ron snow. Snow has this deep voice that lends itself to action and horror films nicely,so it was a good choice to have him on the sequel. The quality of the description is still really high.

And the final in the trilogy, The Mummy: The Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor is still Deluxe, this time narrated by Jedidiah Barton. Even though this is the worst of the three films, the audio description never suffers, despite how much more difficult this movie is, as it ropes in a lot of mythology and doesn’t make a ton of sense just as a film.

So, while it may be a remake itself, I think this has become the definitive version of The mummy, and Universal has chased this for a while.

Final Grades: The Mummy: A

The Mummy Returns: B

The Mummy: Tomb Of The dragon Emperor- C