Best Stephen Sommers film?
Master of entertainment
When it comes to famous directors, it's fair to argue that Stephen Sommers won't be near the top of that list. However, during the 90's and early 00's he was responsible for some of the most entertaining and enjoyable movies of that era. In case you haven't heard of him, Sommers directed classic films such as Deep Rising (1998), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001) and Van Helsing (2004). He would also go on to direct The G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra in 2009.
It was arguably The Mummy that really put Sommers in the spotlight as a director with great creativity and style. His films are feature packed with big names and he's perhaps the king of fictional entertainment on the big screen. If you haven't seen it, Deep Rising is a film worth checking out. It's unusual cast of quirky characters really work, and Treat Williams is great as Protagonist John Finnegan. Trillian St. James (what a name) is played by the fantastic Famke Jansen, who really shot to fame in Goldeneye.
The whole film is set on a cruise ship that is being attacked by Sea Monsters, and that sounds great doesn't it? To be honest, I actually found the film more entertaining then actually taking it serious. The CGI is questionable at times, but given the time of the films release, it can be forgiven, especially as it looks better than some of the CGI we see today.
The best film in The Mummy trilogy for me has to be the second one. It had everything the first one had and more, it upped the action, the intensity and opened up the characters as we learned more about them. It was great to see Ardeth Bay return to help Rick and the heroes, as he proved a great returning character from the first film. Also in The Mummy Returns Rick and Evie now has a son, Alex (Freddie Boath). He joins the adventure along with his uncle John (John Hannah). It was in this film that we are introduced to The Rock's character, The Scorpion King. This was his movie debut and probably one of the most talked about parts of the film was his CGI. Although I didn't look great, appearing more like a PS2 boss than anything else. It has become one of the reasons the film is loved, and gives it that identity.
It wasn't even that the face of The Scorpion King was bad, it was more the janky movement and expressions that made this laughable back in 2001. Looking back, we wouldn't have it any other way really.
The jump from the second Mummy film to the third was risky, and several actors didn't return for the third outing which was a shame. Most notably the character of Evie, played by Rachel Weisz, didn't return and was replaced by Maria Bello. As an American actor she has to adopt the British accent in line with Evie's character and the overall continuity of the film.
Rick and Evie's son Alex is now grown up, and is replaced by once again an American actor in Luke Ford. Although in The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emporer Alex has a strong American accent, which is confusing as he had a British accent in the second film. It wasn't a huge distraction to the film it just felt like it was unnecessary.
Also not returning was Ardeth Bay, one of the first two films most liked characters. Jet Li would play the Chinese Emporer and also Mummy, as he has a curse on him, much like Imhotep.
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