Of Swords and Soulmates
Is this a kissing book? Of Swords and Soulmates features two couples (and sometimes more), with varying reading preferences and experiences, as they read, listen, and sometimes watch romantasy stories and discuss plot, fantasy elements, romance, spice, theories, and more. Join us for our non-expert opinions as we discuss, argue, rave, rant, and hopefully entertain. We may just help you find your next reading obsession or at least contribute to that TBR list!
Of Swords and Soulmates
Revisiting "The Mummy" - A Timeless Tale of Romance and Adventure
Unearth the secrets of "The Mummy" as we mark its 25th anniversary, not just reminiscing about its thrills but also digging into the rich tapestry of its characters and their moral ambiguity. Are our heroes really the good guys, or is there more to Imhotep's curse than meets the eye? Join us for a lively debate on this cinematic classic and the implications of its narrative through a contemporary lens. We discuss how 1999 was an amazing year for movies, and this was a great film in a year of great films.
Evie's character, with Rachel Weisz's impeccable portrayal, continues to enchant us with her blend of intellect and audacity. We chuckle over our favorite quotes and concede that some special effects have aged poorly and some like fine wine – or in this case, like a perfectly preserved mummy. The film's success story, from its desert shoots to its box office surprise, makes "The Mummy" a cult phenomenon worth revisiting. And let's not forget the other characters who add zest to the adventure, making every rewatch an expedition worth taking.
Our topic waltzes through the romance of Jerry Goldsmith's score and the bygone era of Hollywood, where movie posters were as much a work of art as the films they represented. We dissect the visual and auditory elements that make "The Mummy" not just a movie but an experience. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a newfound enthusiast, this chapter of our podcast promises to rekindle your love for the magic that "The Mummy" has cast over us for a quarter of a century. So, adjust your fedoras and sharpen your wits, as we set out on this podcast journey into the heart of cinematic nostalgia as we discuss if this classic is in fact, romantasy.
Links from this episode:
https://www.indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day
https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/apollycon/
Follow us:
Instagram - @ofswordsandsoulmates
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/ofswordsandsoulmates
Hello and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast where we discuss romanacy stories. I'm one of your hosts, Mari, and with me I have Kelly.
Kelly:Hey Kelly, here we also have Ashley.
Ashley:Hey guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.
Jonathan:Oh, on the caboose JP.
Mari:What's good, all right. So today we are going to talk about the cinematic masterpiece that is, the 1999 version of the Mummy, which is a movie, not a book. We did say we would be discussing movies occasionally, not a book. We did say we would be discussing movies occasionally. Why we chose this is because it's coming up on the 25th anniversary of the release. It was released, obviously, in 1999. And several movie theaters are doing like an in-movie theater re-release to celebrate the 25 year anniversary, and it is one of my favorite movies of all time, so we're doing it.
Mari:Before we get into that, though, I wanted to go through a little bit of news stuff. The first one is I know we've talked a lot about Carissa Broadbent. I promise not all the news will be Carissa Broadbent, but the first little news tidbit I had is that she announced officially that there's going to be six more books in her crowns of niaxia series. Before it was just kind of like a nebulous. There are going to be more books, but she officially said that there's going to be six more six is a lot.
Ashley:Yeah, that would be a total wonder if she's doing like spinoffs, like with all the, all the characters, like the new one, yeah, like um. But yeah, six is a lot.
Mari:She must be bringing in the other character stories it has to be in, like the other, maybe the other clans involved or something. Um, oh, that would be cool. Right, like their viewpoints, because like there's two, three I'm sorry, there's three the third one's going to be released. There's two, the third one's coming, I believe, this year I I've already forgotten when it releases.
Mari:I think, it was later this year, yeah, and I believe there's also two novellas set in that world. So that's a lot of books. It's a very fleshed out world, but it's a fun world. I know you and I both like them. The other thing that I had and this is going to be this episode is going to be coming out just before this happens but the 27th basically the last Saturday in April is Independent Bookstore Day.
Mari:If you have, if you're lucky enough to have, an independent bookstore in your town, think about maybe supporting it. You can go online. Several places are doing. Several independent bookstores are doing things like to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day IndieBoundorg and see if you have a participating bookstore close to you. Indieboundorg and see if you have a participating bookstore close to you. Some of them it's like little giveaways or little specials or whatever.
Mari:The way I found out about this is there are two independent bookstores that I follow that I was lucky enough to visit I really enjoyed in San Diego. It's Mysterious Galaxy, which was an all fantasy and sci-fi store, and then there's a store there in San Diego, a bookstore called Meet Cute, which is just romance books. That's clever, yeah, and Meet Cute is. It's very cute. It's a cute little setup and it's not a very large store, but they have a pretty big online presence and they have a podcast. They do, too Like when they have authors come around to sign books there, they interview them for the podcast. That's so fun, yep.
Mari:So that those two stores in San Diego are part of an independent bookstore book crawl. That's happening the weekend of the 27th. So if you're lucky enough to be in the area, I would say, definitely check that out. Otherwise, just if you happen to have a good, you know, independent bookstore in your area, think about visiting it. The third thing I had is also happening basically now as this episode is released, and that is Apollycon, which takes place outside of DC and it's a fantasy, ya author like a book convention. On their website they say Apollycon is an annual multi-day author event owned by Jennifer L Armentrout, established in 2015, features authors who write YA and adult fiction, vendors, publishers, sponsors and hosts over a thousand readers each year in Washington DC. Have you guys read any Jennifer Armentrout?
Ashley:No, but I want to. She's got a cult following. Yes, sarah j, mass and the rest of them yeah, she's high up there, yep she's.
Jonathan:What has she written?
Ashley:books, kelly I'm thinking it must be books if she's having a series that I'm most familiar with is the blood and ash series, and I think that one that one's at least three books that I'm that I'm aware of. I just pulled it up, but I know she has several series out and so I don't know if they interconnect or anything. I am not well-versed yet in Jennifer Same. She's on my list.
Mari:Yeah, she, it's six books. It looks like the Blood of Ash series is six books.
Ashley:Oh, okay, I stand corrected yeah.
Mari:I knew books.
Ashley:Oh, okay, I stand corrected. Yeah, I knew, I knew she.
Mari:They were thick ones too yeah, I just saw the first one is 622 pages, wolf. But I mean, if they're good, that just means you get to be in that world for longer.
Ashley:So yeah, I hear they're very sexy too. Um the the book talkers on tiktok are very highly pro jennifer army trout okay, like high spice content.
Mari:That's what I hear. Okay, that is all I had for news. So I think we should go right into talking about the Mummy. I'm going to read a little synopsis of it for anyone who doesn't know can kind of get into the details a little bit more. Now, this movie is, you know, 25 years old, so we're not we're not gonna be worried too much about spoilers. If you haven't seen it, watch it and then listen to us. It's a good movie, it's a good time, you'll have fun, all right. So this synopsis is from Wikipedia. The Mummy is a 1999 American action adventure, horror comedy film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brandon Fraser, rachel Weisz, john Hanna and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. It's a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. The film follows adventurer Rick O'Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, with a librarian and her older brother, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers.
Jonathan:It's a comedy.
Mari:Yeah, there's lots of funny parts in it.
Jonathan:I mean, yeah, there's definitely some funny parts in it. I'm surprised to find out that it's kind of pitched as a comedy. This is like that time I found out Fast and the Furious is a comedy.
Mari:I mean it is laughable.
Kelly:Yeah, I mean I think it was pitched as a comedy because brendan frazier hadn't really established himself as a action movie person at this point right I think he had just done george of the jungle.
Mari:That's what got him this role was george of the jungle, right.
Kelly:So people who were familiar with brendan frazier, if they knew the name, they knew him from things like Encino man, george of the Jungle. And what's interesting is, you have to remember 1999 was a banner year for Brendan Fraser. He had three movies that came out that year, so prior to this one being released in the same year, he also had Blast from the Past, which was a comedy. Oh yeah, so Brendan Fraser has been established as a comedy actor. At this point, I think it's fair to say like he as a comedy actor. At this point, I think it's fair to say like he was a comedy actor, a physical comedy actor.
Mari:That's from the past I legit.
Kelly:Forgot about that. Yeah, an underrated Brendan Fraser movie for sure, because it also featured Christopher Walken.
Jonathan:Yep. I feel like a majority of his body of work is probably underrated.
Mari:A hundred percent, yeah, I agree.
Kelly:So nothing stacks up to the biodome, so I don't think the marketers at Universal Pictures really wanted to try and push this as anything other than a comedy or an adventure comedy, because they knew Brendan Fraser really wasn't known for being an action star.
Mari:Yeah, I mean, I know that he wasn't known for being an action star. Yeah, I mean, I know that he wasn't known for being an action star, but basically they wanted the Rick O'Connell character to be like an Errol Flynn kind of character and so, because he did George of the Jungle, they were like, oh, he could do this and he's not really big yet, so he's going to be cheap, you know, compared to like, apparently they wanted Tom Cruise to do this, this first one, which would have been horrible.
Jonathan:I mean they got him.
Kelly:Yeah, I mean, they got him eventually. And there's the Tom Cruise the mummy, which was horrible.
Mari:Yeah.
Kelly:So yeah, it's a remake of the 1932. And remake, I think, is a loose word. It's not quite the same, obviously.
Mari:No, I mean I think it's got some of the action and horror, maybe of the original and it's set around the same time frame, like in the 20s right.
Kelly:Yeah, I mean the time frame is probably the same-ish and the mummy priest being Imhotep and stuff like that, that's the same. The rest of it is not so much, because in the original 1932 film the mummy and the priest come to England after after they opened the tomb was it england? I thought it was the us, I don't remember I know it was not, I think it was, I think it was england okay, it's been a while since I've seen that one.
Mari:Have you guys seen it?
Jonathan:the old one it's black and white. Yeah, I have not it's short, it's classic.
Mari:You know, it's a classic, old, universal monster movie. Yeah, it's like a mashup movie. It's like the the Princess Bride, it's like all my favorite movies are like mashup movies, where it's just a little bit of like all these genres stick it together and if we do it just right, you get like this amazing mashup.
Kelly:I mean 1999 was, you know, probably one of the best years in modern cinema, right? I mean you had so many movies come out in 1999 that were noteworthy. I mean you had Star Wars, episode I, you had the Sixth Sense, you had Austin Powers, you had the Matrix, love.
Mari:The Matrix, you had the.
Kelly:Mummy, you had Runaway Bride, you had the Blair Witch Project.
Ashley:That was 1999.
Kelly:Uh-oh Hot dog, you know, and there's a lot of other cult classics that came out in 1999, like Varsity Blues, which was a cult classic in the whole football thing, and you had. She's All that that came out. Yeah, Office Space.
Mari:Oh yeah.
Kelly:You know. So there was a lot.
Jonathan:One of Mari's favorites, Galaxy Quest.
Kelly:Yeah, and then?
Mari:at the end of the year you had Galaxy Quest, the best Star Trek movie, the best of all the Star Trek movies.
Kelly:So I mean, 1999 was just a huge year for movies. You had just so many good movies that year.
Ashley:Yeah, they were really kicking them out. Sleepy Hollow, johnny Depp. Entrapment Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Kelly:You also had Mystery Men, the Iron Giant.
Mari:I like Mystery Men, icentennial man Robin Williams, zeta jones you also had mystery men, the iron giant.
Ashley:I like mystery men, bicentennial man, robin williams, and like we talked, about last episode.
Kelly:You know you also had in 1999 the 13th warrior so yeah 1999 was just all over the place for movies, as far as just there was just good movies all over the place it's a good year you had to get it in.
Jonathan:You had to get it in before the close of business, right? They didn't know. If you know, the world was going to exist, yeah, stigmata.
Kelly:Yeah, the mummy was a great movie in a year of great movies yeah for sure so what do you guys think?
Mari:General overall star rating what would you give it?
Jonathan:Three Blasphemy, wow. Well, I mean, you wound me. But it wasn't the cinematic work that was stigmata.
Ashley:Wow, that was a long period of silence. I just I had nothing. I had nothing to help that I.
Jonathan:I don't even know who you are right now my gosh, I'm pretty, I'm pretty pretty standard with this. Yeah, I mean, what stood out to you, you, what would have pushed it beyond the three, what made it a four to five for you?
Mari:The plot, the character development.
Jonathan:What about the plot?
Mari:The plot where you have one of my favorite tropes in action movies where you have like an action person that would be Rick O'Connell and then you have one or more non-actiony people who are just tagging along and whoever the big jock is has to keep these nerds alive. Yeah, like that, that whole adventure of them. But you have, like that, somebody who's like a spy, like this is not, you know, original to the mummy, like lots of movies have done this. We have someone who's like a spy or like a not necessarily like a superhero, but like a very physically fit or really good at shooting or whatever type character. And then you have somebody like a generic whatever that they have to keep alive and I think it lends itself well to like adding that comedy aspect to adventure movies, to action movies, so that they don't take themselves too seriously.
Jonathan:Yes, I think we saw this movie from different perspectives. I didn't see Brendan Fraser as the hero at all. I saw him as a supporting villain and I saw the Magi as the enemy.
Mari:So who's your hero?
Jonathan:Imhotep.
Mari:Okay.
Kelly:So you're just being contrary at this point.
Jonathan:Well, you know, I mean, like, if you follow the story in the beginning, you have Pharaoh's mistress is a prisoner, she's a sexual, she's in sexual servitude, and Imhotep and her are in love and they just want to be together and the Pharaoh's death is driven solely by the quest to free her from her sexual servitude. And how does the Magi react? Not only does she take, when she takes her own life, she says my body is no longer his temple. She's like she's basically saying I'm out.
Mari:Yeah.
Jonathan:I can't, I don't want to be, I don't want to be your possession anymore. And she gave her life with the knowledge that he would stop at nothing to resurrect her and be with her in love. That's all they wanted to do is be together. And then how does the Magi react? They prevent it in the 11th hour from coming together and letting them be together, and they murder a group of priests in one of the most violently torturous ways ever eaten alive or sorry, not even alive, but embalmed while still alive. Come on, man. And then they bring on this curse themselves. They just say, hey, we're gonna take the world's worst curse nobody dare touch this curse and we're gonna put it on on this dude. And now we have to. For 3,000 plus years, somebody's got to watch over it so that nobody wakes him up, because we God forbid that he gets to be together with the woman he loves, the one that everyone in the whole world is perfectly fine with being somebody's sexual servant. And then fast forward 3,000 years later and you've got a group of colonizers stealing from natives, killing and murdering for treasures that aren't theirs. What the heck? And what happens when he's caught? He's finally caught, imprisoned, sentenced to death and his first interaction with a female is to steal a kiss. That's sexual assault. And then he punches the dude in the face.
Jonathan:My namesake Jonathan, Punches Jonathan right in the nose for borrowing. Notice how the colonizers move the goal line to satisfy their story. You know we're borrowing this. We borrowed this. No, you stole it. You took history from somebody's grave. You're a terrible human being. And then what does she do? She barters by bribing a government official for his release so that they could enrich themselves.
Mari:You know what's interesting that kind of goes with that, the guy who played Imhotep, the actor Arnold Vosloo. He was like, okay, I'll play this. He wanted to play the character, but he wanted to play it completely straight and his whole take on it was from Imhotep's viewpoint. It's a Romeo and Juliet story.
Jonathan:Yes, they were just in love. I mean, the whole world was against them.
Ashley:So why not just bounce Right?
Jonathan:They were. That's what he did. They weren't.
Ashley:Take off the makeup, put on a robe and bounce Just bounce. There's no technology. Pharaoh was probably not going to be able to track them down. How many people knew exactly what they looked like, especially all dolled up? Cut some hair, figure out some different makeup and bounce. And don't throw the pharaoh on the way out, because they literally had knives ready at the go to stab the pharaoh.
Jonathan:Those things existed. They were part of decor, they were just like. It's like you have throw pillows, they got swords. You couldn't get better of it's so fitting of swords and soulmates come on they're soulmates meant to be together.
Ashley:They didn't have to kill other people in the process there was some anger, you wouldn't kill your captors.
Jonathan:I would kill captors. If somebody captured you, ashley, I would do what I had to do.
Mari:But would it be more important to kill the captor or would it be more?
Jonathan:important to get away. It's always important. I think it's always more important to check your ego. When you have a bigger ego like raining down on you, it's probably better to check up your own ego. And curious but you're in this catch-22. You're in this catch-22, right like you're. You're not gonna out negotiate the pharaoh. So we don't know that. That wasn't their goal, that they weren't going to be picking up, leaving running away that very night and they were just busted busted by the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh's guard, and they had to do what they had to do to get away.
Ashley:It seems a little sketch to me it doesn't seem sketchy that she was a priest. He was a priest in his own right. He had some magic up his sleeve already. He could have bounced a lot sooner. They could have bounced separately a lot sooner.
Jonathan:It sounds like you have context to explain that they could have bounced separately a lot sooner you it sounds like you have context to explain that they could have left sooner have you guys seen any?
Mari:of the other movies have you guys seen any of the other movies like the, the sequels and stuff?
Jonathan:I have. Yeah, I saw the second one because I'm trying.
Mari:It's been a long time since I've seen the sequel, but I thought I thought the overall story was that anoxiaun was just using Imhotep for immortality. Wasn't that what it ended up being?
Kelly:Kind of. But the second movie did a little bit of retconning and expanding the story. I mean in the Mummy 2, essentially you have the retconning that what was it?
Kelly:Evie was, turns out, she was a reincarnation of Anak Sunamun's sister or whatever, and they used to or not sister, something like that, and they were like they were fighting each other for the attention of the Pharaoh or something I mean. So there was a little bit of ret conning that went on with the second movie, but I mean, if we're looking just at the first movie, I kind of agree with Ashley. I mean there was absolutely no reason to murder the Pharaoh and then definitely bring the wrath down of the Pharaoh's guards. I mean just exit. That's all you had to do. Just run away.
Ashley:I think, yeah, I think we could have tried a few more excuses first, when he was like who touched you Right Cause her paint is smudged on her shoulder but, it's just her shoulder.
Kelly:She could, and he was like who touched you? Right, because her paint is smudged on her shoulder, but it's just her shoulder it wasn't a sexy area, it was just her shoulder.
Ashley:Yeah, sir, somebody bumped into me. Simmer down. You know like it escalated very quickly for me. She could have very easily distracted him. I brushed into the curtain. I laid down for five minutes.
Jonathan:I think she did. She did cover for her. She tried to sit back and cover for him.
Ashley:She said go and you get away, and then I'll. She could have pacified him in a very different way.
Jonathan:But Pharaoh leapt into that. He said Imhotep, my best friend, in disbel, disbelief, like he already fingered him for the crime. No, he didn't.
Ashley:He didn't. She was in his room, wasn't she no?
Kelly:she didn't turn around and say Imhotep, my priest, until he was right there standing there holding the knife. So he didn't have any idea.
Ashley:I think a Slytherin will always empathize with the one who did just a little bit too much.
Jonathan:I don't think he did too much. I think the Magi did too much.
Ashley:No, the Magi defended their king. That's law.
Jonathan:And he defended his queen.
Ashley:She wasn't queen at the time.
Jonathan:To him, to the priest. He defended the woman he loved. Is her life less valuable than the pharaoh's?
Ashley:Her life wasn't on the line. Suddenly, pharaoh is dead. Everyone life wasn't on the line suddenly pharaoh is dead.
Jonathan:Everyone's life is on the line in that moment people were killed for less back then.
Kelly:I don't think it's an argument of one life being more than the other. I think it's just a matter of emotep and, to a degree, anoxunamun decided to commit the murder, so they chose violence when they could have walked away or tried to walk away, is servitude not violent.
Ashley:So an eye for an eye always.
Jonathan:How many other women, how many other women did he have in his.
Ashley:He could have had all the women that, as you said, that was the time.
Jonathan:He's evil, that's true evil, right there.
Ashley:That is not what we were discussing at the moment, though. To get into the philosophy of the right and wrong, of slavery or religion of that time is separate. If you put that piece aside, even though it is very greatly a factor at any point, anox and Amun and Imhotep could have just bounced If it meant that much to them. What did they hope to gain by killing him? They were not going to get out of that alive Death.
Jonathan:It's only the beginning.
Ashley:You don't kill the pharaoh without repercussion. And maybe they had reached their peak, sure Like they were done. That was it. We can't go. We can't live through this. We can't endure this any longer. So let's Romeo and Juliet this and die together, but why take out the Pharaoh in the process?
Kelly:Right, no, I mean, I think one of the things about the movie is I don't think it tries to explicitly make Emotep out to be nothing but pure evil. I mean he's a bad guy but you sort of understand somewhat of the motivation, right, but at the same time he's the bad guy.
Ashley:He was bad before he died.
Mari:Yeah, I don't think there's any pure bad or pure good.
Mari:I think everyone's shades shades of gray or whatever shades of good and bad. I don't think any one character is 100% bad. You, good, I think everyone's shades shades of gray or whatever shades of good and bad. I don't think any, any one character is a hundred percent bad. You understand that, I think, why each of the characters feel they had to do what they did. Whether or not you agree with what they did, it's pretty well explained in the story why they felt they had to do it. You know what I mean.
Jonathan:Right, I, I mean, I agree with that. I just stand on one side of the fence, that's fine, yeah, you're allowed to be wrong. That's why I allow you guys to be wrong too.
Mari:I have always loved Evie's, like the character of Evie. For the longest time. When we would do was it Call of Culhu rpg games where you like make characters and stuff. Kelly would run them and they were set in the 1920s. I think every single one of the characters I did in those games for years was basically evie. It was some version of of evelyn, just because she was like in the 1920s she's doing her best to like get into this bambridge scholars thing to show them she's you know, know as good as they are and it felt like a very you know woman trying to break into the old old guys club and she was really smart. But then she also would like throw down with the best of them when it came to like OK, I'm going to go out on a dig, ok, I'm going to run away from this undead creature.
Kelly:OK, I'm going to run away from this undead creature. Okay, I'm going to stand and fight.
Mari:I'm going to win a camel race. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really like that character and I have, since the first time I watched the movie, fell in love with the character and with the way Rachel Weisz portrays her.
Ashley:I was going to say I think this is when we all fell in love with Rachel Weisz.
Jonathan:I think what I enjoyed most about her I think this is when we all fell in love with Rachel Weisz saw Rhett was able to read between the lines and see around the corners and then say things like hey guys, yeah, you know we can share.
Jonathan:there are other places to dig you know, like hint, hint, we can go do this other thing her brain was her it made me the only thing that I think the excitement, the thrill of the hunt blinded her a little bit when she was in the office with Jonathan and the director of the museum and he intentionally sabotaged the map. I thought had she been more focused in that moment she probably would have been like, hey, what are you doing? Stop that.
Mari:When she had just gotten denied again from the Bainbridge Scholars and she was like seeing her big opportunity to maybe get some of that field experience that they said is what she needed. Yeah, so so she had. Yeah, her eyes definitely were on a target. That wasn't what he was doing. For me, it's a five-star movie and I know, I know that a huge part of that is nostalgia, but it's one of these movies that, like I've watched I couldn't even tell you how many times I watched it. I watched it at least once a year, if not multiple times a year.
Jonathan:I regularly quote bits from the movie. What'd you think of the special effects?
Kelly:I thought the special effects held up pretty darn well, some of them I think are dated now, especially Hamunaptra, the first time, and Imhotep is like still all like mostly rotted mummy or whatever. I think that is showing its age. But a lot of the other effects are still pretty decent. Yeah, mostly because they were sticking to a lot of the CGI effects for distant shots and distant people in the background, often a very far distance, you know wide shots and stuff like that, and they used a lot of more practical effects in the close-up stuff still.
Jonathan:I think the one special effect that sold me was towards the end when the face morphed into that really elongated jaw. But I do agree with you that leading up to that the mummy himself like incomplete that was mildly sketched. When his arm gets cut off, I thought that was executed well. When he puts it back on, that's not really that looks kind of hokey Overall I think given the timeline that's not really that looks kind of hokey Overall. I think given the timeline it held up really well.
Mari:Yeah, I know that they like the story takes place in Egypt, but they did the filming in Marrakesh in Morocco, and I think they did a good job of incorporating a lot of like these really pretty like wide desert scenes, like sweeping, sweeping shots, and I think that helps because you're not just doing green screen stuff all the time, you know you're, you're not just focused on that, you have like real scenery to kind of draw your eye yeah, I think the interesting thing to keep in mind too is that I don't think this movie was destined.
Kelly:They thought this movie was going to be a big summer blockbuster, right. Yeah, I kind of feel like this was a movie that they made not thinking it was going to be such a huge success and especially not a kind of a recurring cult success, right.
Jonathan:Do you think they didn't have plans for a sequel?
Kelly:I don't know that they did initially.
Mari:Yeah, I don't think they did. I think that because it did so well, they ended up doing a sequel. I just looked it up it was a budget of $80 million and it grossed over $416.4 million worldwide.
Kelly:And you know, looking at some tidbits, facts about the film the home video, VHS and DVD sales. Facts about the film the home video, vhs and DVD sales. It was the best-selling VHS movie of 1999 and the second best-selling DVD after the Matrix. Wow, and that alone resulted in a billion dollars in home video sales. So this movie was wildly successful at the box office after the box office, etc.
Mari:Kept making the money yeah.
Jonathan:Yeah, I mean, it was a different time too. I don't think we're going to get well, we'll never get those follow-up sales. Everything is going to be how it's released. What did it do in the box office and then direct to streaming?
Kelly:Right, and this movie resulted in the sequel and then, later on down the line, the third movie that didn't have Rachel Weisz in it, but you had the sequel, and then you had the spinoff with the Scorpion King. Talk about some bad CGI which right that was the movie that launched the Rock's film career.
Mari:Yeah, because before that I think he had just done a little bit of TV, I mean, and obviously wrestling that's where I knew him from was for wrestling. And then he did a teeny bit in Star Trek and then the Scorpion King. I know he did sports ball, he did football, but that's not my jam, but I did like that spin-off.
Jonathan:I like the Scorpion King. I didn't like the sequel.
Kelly:Well, the Scorpion King had a sequel, but then it also had three additional sort of direct-to-video sequels.
Mari:Oh wow, I didn't know there were so many.
Jonathan:Yeah, but I did like that. I thought he did a good job executing it, but I think it was mildly. I could see that comedic edge there. I don't know if I feel like he was better in the lead or if Brennan Fraser was better in the lead in those films, Like that type of film.
Mari:I think Brendan Fraser does the Errol Flynn style action star or action main character very well because he doesn't play it super serious. I think he does a good job of keeping it a certain level of levity that you have to have for that kind of movie to work.
Jonathan:So how do you feel? How would you rate the fantasy of the Mummy?
Mari:I thought the fantasy was pretty good. I mean it has a fantasy. There's the idea of the people coming back to life. There's a magic system, so to speak. There's a set of rules or spells or things that have to happen to bring back to life. There's consequences to magic, the plagues and the end of the world, etc. So I mean I thought the fantasy was fine. It wasn't like the biggest element, but I mean it had to be there for the story to work.
Jonathan:So is that like a three?
Mari:I would say that it's a four to me. It was not the most super interesting, involved magic system Like, but you didn't get really hardcore into it either. But I mean you had the undead bringing them back to life. You had the secret city that you know can only be seen when you're in the right spot, with the sun hitting it, or whatever. You had curses. There's enough fantasy to go around, I thought.
Kelly:Kelly, what'd you think? I think that, as far as just the fantasy aspect, I think there was a lot of good fantasy elements that are pretty standard, you know, undead, etc. There was a little bit of hand-waving where the rules of the magic and stuff just benefited the plot more than being consistent, but it was, for the sake of, you know, making the story more interesting. I feel like it's definitely a solid three as far as the fantasy elements go.
Mari:And I don't know a lot about Egyptian mythology. That's not something I know a ton about, but it seemed to pull from like what little I know about Egyptian mythology. So I kind of brought some little tidbits of that in, which was kind of interesting. Ash, what do you think?
Ashley:Some little tidbits of that in which was kind of interesting. Ash, what do you think? Fantasy level, it's a solid four for me. I think it's on the higher end because without it there's no story, right, Like if there wasn't the concept of bringing resurrecting from the dead. The books themselves, you know, being essentially spell books, make it something that's realistic, reasonable to understand. Without that you don't have a movie. So I think they did a good job telling the story, bringing in the magic, making it something that's not so wildly unbelievable and complicated. I think that's why it appeals to so many people too.
Ashley:When we were talking about the numbers, I think it's just ultimately a fun and easy movie to watch. It's not overwhelming, it's not overbearing and it is a good mashup of adventure and comedy. It is funny I burst out laughing several times when she has the little tool and she talks about how they mummify, right, I said that line word for word. I probably haven't watched this movie in five years. They stick it up his nose, they scramble it about and then they yank it out, right, and I did the motions with it. So yeah, solid four for me. It's, like you said, not the most intricate magic system, they don't dive too deep into it. But without it the movie itself wouldn't exist and it would be far less appealing.
Jonathan:I agree, I think I would give it a four for the fantasy. I kind of like that they dug into all the plagues and then coming back to life, the Book of the Dead, you know like all this stuff was. I thought it was interesting, I thought the fantasy a solid four for me. How do you feel about the romance? Yeah, I was going to say what about romance?
Kelly:Well, just the romance is an entirely different thing from. You know the level of spice. I mean obviously the romance. You know you had two different romances going on at the same time, so there was definitely a lot of romance. You had the romance between Brendan Fraser's character and Rachel Weisz's character, and then the sort of romance between Imhotep and Anaksuna Moon slash Rachel Weisz and both were. You know that was the romantic element, was pretty much integral to the plot, do you think?
Jonathan:that it's. Do you think that there was any spice to complement the romance?
Mari:Are you asking Kelly, or just in general?
Jonathan:In general. Anyway, jump in Like double dutch.
Mari:Yeah, for me, I think romance totally there A very high romance to me because it's well-developed characters and it wasn't like an insta-love thing and it kind of developed over time. So romance five Spice to me was a one. It's not spicy, there's not a whole lot of that in there. There's, I think, maybe I would say like the kiss at the end which is very like old Hollywood, very much a throwback to that. And I would say there's the scene where Evie, where Evelyn, after they jump to the river and they lose their clothes and she's got to change into that black Bedouin outfit and like Rick O'Connell sees her for the first time, was it Jonathan? Jonathan is like awfully tempting, was it? And Rick O'Connell's like sees Evie and he's like awfully tempting. I was like, okay, those are my two spice moments. But it's not a spicy film at all, I don't think.
Jonathan:I agree with you. I didn't think it was spicy, but I do think the romance elements existed, and I thought I'd probably give it the same marks that you gave it, mari, like a four for the romance and a one for the spice. How about you, ash?
Ashley:no-transcript. Think there was meant to be much spice to this and I think if they had done any more it would have felt a little bit more corny than it did. And, like you said, I think it was all very. You got the impressions of the romance that was to come. You very clearly saw the passion that existed between the characters that were there. I thought it was very nice how Evie or Rick wanted to get to know Evie, you know, like when she's drinking and he's fairly sober, he knows she's three sheets to the wind and he's like I get everyone else but I don't get you. Like why are you here? And she goes through her speech. I might not be what everyone else is. I am a librarian and that was something that was something cool, right, like she was passionate about what she was. She wanted more for herself. She wanted to learn. She saw her strength in learning. She knew things there that the scholars didn't know. Right, she figured things out.
Mari:In a way, you're right. In a way that's very romantic. It's like the whole like dark academia, the romantization of knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge, like she was. That through and through. She is for me, you know, based off the stuff I've watched and read and whatnot was early dark academia like proto dark academia for me. Yeah.
Ashley:And he supported that very quickly, right, like he very quickly recognized that she knew what she was talking about and it made sense to listen to her when she spoke, whether it be direction or intention, or you know how to handle a situation. So, yeah, I really appreciated the character development between Rick and Evie. It wasn't too mushy, it didn't feel forced. Both of the characters felt very organic in that setting. Like you said I think you said old Hollywood, right, it was all very old Hollywood.
Mari:Yeah, I'm going to skip around a little bit from what we had maybe thought about talking about, just because it goes so much with the old Hollywood and with the idea of romance and everything. One thing that very much struck me this time watching it, which I don't know that I actually paid attention to before, was the music. The music in this movie, when you listen to it, is very old Hollywood. It's very like sweeping and romantic. And so I looked up Kelly and I had recently been to one of these events where they play it was a local symphony here and they play music from different movies and so you kind of get to appreciate them without the movie and you still get like the, the feeling and the, the idea in your head and I feel like the move. The music in this evokes scenes like if I heard the music, I'm playing that, that movie in my head.
Mari:So I looked up who did the movie is Jerry, who did the movie, who did the music for the movie is Jerry Goldsmith and he's actually the reason it sounds so like old school, old Hollywood is. He is from that era. He did the music to the Star Trek movies, he did the music to the Secret of NIMH Alien trick movies. He did the music to the Secret of NIMH Alien, poltergeist, the Omen Planet of the Apes, like the original Planet of the Apes, oh, wow, yeah, mulan. Like he was born in like the 20s. He was born in the time that this movie takes place and he died not long after the movie was released. Like he died in 2004. But yeah, like the music in this I thought was very well done. It impressed me Like I know we don't have a rating for rating system for music because that doesn't really apply to books, but I definitely was really impressed by the music this time ago around watching it.
Jonathan:I didn't really notice the music. I'm being like like Jurassic Park. I noticed the music Star Wars, I noticed the music this one I didn't really notice it.
Kelly:And I don't know that that's a bad thing. It might have just merged with the story and the flow of the film so well Williams. On the other hand, his music that he put into a lot of movies stood out from the film. It both complimented and stood out and it became iconic. But if you ever think that I always used to have this discussion with people if they said that the background music and score of a film aren't that big of a deal you know why do we give an Oscar for that? Try watching a movie without it. It's a whole different experience. If you try and watch a movie without the cinematic score Some people have done as a joke they'll take an infamous scene of a movie and switch it to a different score in the background and it completely changes the movie or completely changes that scene.
Kelly:I mean the classic example I've seen before is going to Star Wars. The moment in Return of the Jedi where Vader's shuttle lands. You can see they're all very anxious about it and somebody replaced that tense John Williams background music with like a lighter comedy fare and it completely changes the tone of that scene.
Mari:Interesting, I agree. So one thing that does compare to when we do our little book reviews is cover of the book, and in this case it would be like the official movie poster how well we think it you know portrays the movie or portrays the story or advertises you know what the movie is about. And the official movie poster has Rick O'Connell in the front with like a rifle hanging off a rope, looking very action hero-y. And you have Evie's character and you have some maybe Pharaoh's priest and then Imhotep, like in this shadow moon in a desert scene in the back Thoughts.
Jonathan:I like the, the nod to everybody's favorite British pilot.
Kelly:That's not the movie poster I remember. I remember it being the pyramids in the foreground and then the mummy sand face in the background, and that's it. None of the characters actually on the screen.
Mari:You know it's funny. That's the one I remember too. But when I looked up the official movie release, the one that officially came with the movie was the one that had the actors on the front.
Jonathan:It looks like there's quite a few versions out the one with the, the dune and this desert and the just the emotep sand face in the front feels very 1990s, I agree, but I think that one is like the teaser leading up to it and then the other one is probably like it's been released and it's moving to dvd. Is there one that is a specific dvd cover?
Jonathan:I'm not sure if we were looking at both of them the one with the, the sand face, and the and the pyramids. So there's not really. We're not really talking about pyramids in the movie, so that the relation's not there. But you know, one of the iconic scenes is that face in the, in the sand. Even from the beginning of the movie, when o'connell is being chased by away from that battle and he's cornered, the face of the mummy appears in that sand, raiding it. You're right, it feels a little clip arty, but the other one. There's so many elements and shots from the movie it's hard to not say that it's not relatable to the film.
Mari:To me, the one with the actors on it feels more like an old-timey Hollywood movie. It feels more like the 1930s movies, like how they used to do movie posters. So it feels like a bit of a throwback, that it is kind of a remake of that old movie.
Ashley:Ash, there's a match-up version too yeah, I know I'm down a rabbit hole trying to like figure out what the movie poster was with, like the dvd print might have been, and so now I feel more confused than when I started looking at what. What's like quote, unquote, right, I think the two versions that we discussed at the beginning are both really like very epically fantastic. Right For the movie, I think when you think ancient Egypt, you think pyramids, right? So the poster with the sand face, with the pyramids you're immediately going to reference with this movie, even though I don't even know that we see an actual pyramid in the movie.
Ashley:And then, jonathan's correct, it looks like the poster that mari shared with our group, the one with all the actors and and emotep in the background with like the moon or the sun I think at one point it was all of the actors and then like the sand face in the background. So I I'm very confused as which came first, the chicken or the egg here. But I think they're both fantastic. And I did actually like Jonathan's point about our favorite drunk grandpa in his airplane in the background. Yeah, that was very fitting If you zoom into the picture too, like the priests to Evie's left are holding cats. Did you see that?
Mari:no they're just like because we'll throw everything in, we'll see what sticks is afraid of the cats.
Ashley:Yeah, so I was like zooming into that, I thought that was a nice, a nice time. But yeah, I think very clearly, like brendan frazier is, you know, the action figure of the movie and evie is a very close partner to number one, if not number two, uh, because that was 1999, right?
Ashley:yeah you don't see the brother, you don't see the scholars, you don't see a scarab beetle, which I thought for sure should make the cover, but you do get the magi and the airplane, which was such a short part of the movie but but quite impactful. Yeah, the poster. I think all the posters are five for me. Like you said, I think some of that's just the nostalgia of it. It's hard for me to find anything lacking in this movie.
Mari:Yeah, like I'm aware that I have the nostalgia glasses on and I'm okay with that.
Ashley:Yeah, this. This is one of the movies you watch for the joy of it and not for the education or the growth.
Mari:I couldn't find anything that led me down any kind of rabbit hole as to who was responsible for designing, like, who put together the official movie poster, the DVD cover, none of that. So I have no artist to credit, unfortunately. All right, so the final question about the Mummy. Unless anybody wants to say anything else, then the final question about the Mummy is is it a kissing book? Is it a kissing movie? Would we label it romancy?
Kelly:I don't think you can not label it romancy.
Mari:Right.
Kelly:I mean the romance is central to the plot right Both the romances.
Mari:Yeah, both the romances and the fantasy, like you have. Without any one of those things, it falls apart. A hundred percent, yes, yeah, wow, we're in agreement. What?
Ashley:Write it down, folks. It'll probably be a while.
Jonathan:We got to give ourselves more credit, yeah. So I think really, the only disagreed through this one is like the overall, and some of that, admittedly, is grounded in nostalgia and we're looking at it from, we're looking at it through different lenses, right, which I appreciate. You know, I like to maybe look at into the white, into the white space of this film, you know, and maybe it is a little bit, maybe it is a bit of a contrarian perspective, but I think it serves the purpose well.
Mari:We're going to have to move on from the three-star rating you gave this. You still have me shooketh on that one. I'm flabbergasted. So, moving on from the mummy, one little segment that we're going to start adding is a bit of a rapid fire question segment, where we will have a movie or a book, like something fairly popular and well-known, and we will decide just rapid-fire discussion, without any other in-depth review, whether or not we think it's a kissing book, whether or not it's romantic, and if you would like to submit a suggestion for us on that, reach out to us on Instagram at of swords and soulmates, or on Facebook and give a suggestion, and we can do this every episode. What we've come up with for today is the hunger games. Do we think the hunger game is a kissing book?
Kelly:So we're talking about the book and not the movie, right, although they're pretty similar.
Mari:Yeah, from what I remember, they were pretty similar. It's been a while since I've read them, but yeah, they were pretty well aligned.
Jonathan:I'm going to go ahead and say I don't think it's a kissing book.
Kelly:I don't think it is either, Because I think unless you say that Katniss's love for her sister because she obviously steps up and volunteers as tribute because she doesn't want her sister to go, but other than that there's no romantic element of her relationship with any of the other characters. That would have made a difference.
Mari:I think some of the characters followed her. From what I'm remembering, peeta's character was very enamored of her. I think I don't know that he would have done what he did if he didn't love her. But I think overall, I think her story didn't necessarily need a romance in there. I think everything would have and could have still happened without the romance. So I would say no, ash what do you think?
Ashley:I'm digging deep guys. I'm digging deep to separate the books and the movies. I'm trying to be objective about it because I think this series changed my perspective of YA and fantasy and I think it broke my heart a little bit. So I'm digging deep and objectively. In terms of romance, like very specific romance, this is not a kissing book, especially book one. Yeah, I think is not a kissing book. I think this is very, I think it's very young adult. I think Suzanne Collins stayed very true, you know, to the ages of the characters in the book. I think Kelly's point was extremely valid. There is something to be said about familial love and I think there's also something very much to be said about community and the love of friendship, because a lot of things develop from those perspectives. But from like, straight on romance, no, it is not kissing love.
Mari:I mean it's a very good story. I remember really enjoying the book and the movie and really getting into it. It's a good story. I just don't feel that romance is an integral part of it.
Jonathan:Yeah, I mean that's not the story, and down goes the Hunger Games.
Mari:All right, that's our take on it. Once again, if you would like to suggest a book or a movie for us to do a rapid fire discussion of whether or not it's a kissing book, reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook with suggestions. We are looking forward to having a fun time delving into more stories and books out there and hope that you enjoy coming along for the ride with us. For the next episode, we will be reviewing the Liar's Crown by Abigail Owen. That is part of the Dominion series. It's book one of the Dominion trilogy. Get to reading if you'd like to have it read before you listen to our next episode, or just listen to us and then decide if you want to read it or not.
Mari:Thanks for listening to Of Swords and Soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check out the show notes, rate and review us on your podcast app of choice, and follow us on Instagram at Of Swords and Soulmates, or join our Facebook page Of Swords and Soulmates If you'd like to read along with us as we prepare for new episodes. You can also follow us on Goodreads at Of Swords and Soulmates. There's a running theme here. We hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode. Bye guys, bye guys, see you later you.
