A "B" movie wrapped in a winding cloth of "A" special effects. Universal unleashes a film that feels like a ride at its studios in L.A. -- classic Hollywood hoopla! Hundreds of screaming soldiers on horses, crashing biplanes, scary monsters, and a wide-eyed Bob Hope kind of light-heartedness "The Mummy" is not heavy drama ... it's scary-lite.

In ancient Egypt a man is naughty with the Pharaoh's mistress. She kills herself and they mummify him alive. (You'd think that'd to teach 'em.) However, much later (1923) an American adventurer (Indiana Jones without the edgemacation) hooks up with a Hieroglyphics reading librarian and her brother. Together they sort of accidentally awaken the mummy, whose "soul mission" is to wreak havoc with its "human race ending" evil.

The crude toughened cowboy whose only knowledge is his experience couples (in tasty contrast) with the clumsy, but proper librarian whose only knowledge is theory. Though the film sets itself up rather nicely from a scripting point of view; once the mummy kidnaps the girl, it isn't too much more than a special effects vehicle.

What the movie did excellently: Pharaoh's Mistress' costume -- a great intro to the film. Music - as powerful as were the special effects awesome. Chuckles -- I laughed out loud more than a few times. And of course, KILLER SPECIAL EFFECTS. The first appearance of the mummy is genuinely awe inspiring.

What kept the movie from truly being great: Camels out run horses. A row of soldiers stands in the line of fire, just to fall dramatically when shot. An overkill climax that subtracts from the drama. Overuse of a great bugs visual. And all though Brendan Fraser's first scream at the mummy is pricelessly hilarious, all others thereafter fall short. But, the hardest hit to this "big picture" was a cartoon-like plane crash that spanked a disappointingly out-of-place end to a fantastic special effects sequence.

Though plagued a bit with bugs, "The Mummy" is still a whole heck of a lot of fun.