Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan and Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell THE MUMMY 1999 | dir. Stephen Sommers

Dorothy Stine Pratt-Rowe (Karloff's spouse), Boris Karloff and director Karl Freund on the set of The Mummy (1932)

Skin concept - 'Sloan O'Connell'~ ♡

🌙 MY MK SKETCH BOOK 🌙⁠

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But what if Steven Grant was a cute little archaeologist accidentally reading scripture from an ancient text in the name of historical curiosity and awoke an ancient priest that was just trying to reconnect with a girlfriend? MummyAU anyone?

Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell

The Mummy, 1999

been trying to put words to why i find psych so unique and effortless in the world of comedy tv and i think ive cracked it. theres a truly excellent approach to storytelling that goes something like this: you pick a high stakes Setting. examples from some Classic media include ancient egypt, space pirates, and in the case of psych: homicide mysteries. all the examples im thinking of are also arguably homages or adaptations to an existing Version of the setting that has expectations or assumptions associated with it. the mummy (1999) was a reimagining of the original horror movie. guardians of the galaxy (2014-2021) borrows and subverts so much of what the audience already knows about classic movies like star wars. (psych is, of course, sherlock holmes). anyway; the setting predisposes itself to more dramatic plot bc inherent to that setting are Stakes. instead of going with the setting-appropriate tone, you commit 200% to comedy through — not the plot — but the DNA of your characters. true, a talented writer will include many deliberate jokes, but the comedy never really turns on and off because your core premise is “watch me put a group of unhinged yet endearing idiots in this major situation and go along with them for the ride”. the more unhinged and idiotic they are, the better, but they have to be setting-appropriate. they have to have the skills and tools to navigate that setting competently or it all falls apart. they’re not bad at their setting, they’re just deeply chaotic. cuckoo bananas. generally stupid (affectionate). they have SO many (complementary) issues.

now comes the most critical part. you tie the whole thing together by also committing 100% to multiple other genres in your already mishmashed genre. when you do romance you do High Romance. when you do drama it is hitting at these characters emotional CORES. and it works because your setting is high stakes and your characters are already three dimensional by being simultaneously hypercompetent and major dumbass. id argue this is a bit different than the more generic works in the indian masala genre or western superhero movie approach because often in those movies its a jack of all trades type situation where there are inserted tracks into a movie thats fundamentally genreless. what im talking about here has fully embraced all 5 of its genres with GUSTO. it’s not slipping in little quips or including one comedy track, it’s always funny. it’s not pairing off two characters for the sake of it, the romance is integral to the core plot of the story and character motivations. its emotional moments are built into the fabric of the story and never afterthoughts.

finally, in order to make the writing work effortlessly (because real life people don’t talk like that) you need a cast with chops and chemistry that makes it all feel organic. there are no breaks or looks into the camera or starts and stops to the emotional and comedic action because the actors embody the spirit of the story so dynamically and work off of each other so well.

like i said, some of my favourite examples of this kind of ensemble comedy-in-a-high-stakes-setting stories are classics like the mummy and more modern works like guardians of the galaxy. it clicked for me the other night that psychs writing reminds me of those stories a lot, but its doubly clever because psych does homage settings inside its already an homage setting and still manages the “watch these idiots in this high stakes situation” bit so well. it’s an entirely different experience from watching a sitcom because the writing never takes you by the shoulder and says “you’re in a sitcom, time to laugh”. id actually argue that psychs weakest episodes are the most sitcom like in flavour. at these stories’ best you’re just dunked into this truly chaotic situation thats made effervescently funny yet also deeply emotional and compelling and dramatic by dint of the characters being Exactly Who They Are All Together. it takes a very talented kind of writer and a special kind of cast to pull this type of storytelling off but when they do. it is so so fun and so so worth it.

Happy 25th Anniversary to The Mummy (1999)! I did this piece recently for @themummyzine which released today (and is freee!) 👀

The Mummy (1999) dir. Stephen Sommers

The Mummy dir. Stephen Sommers | 1999

THE MUMMY (1999) Dir. Stephen Sommers Rachel Weisz as Evelyn Carnahan

THE MUMMY 1999 — dir. Stephen Sommers

The Mummy (1999) dir. Stephen Sommers

The Mummy (1999) dir. Stephen Sommers