1999sThe Mummyis a modern day classic. A swashbuckling action-adventure set in 1920s Egypt, starring Brendan Fraser as a reluctant American embroiled in a tale of the most pure of good vs evil.The Mummyhas quite rightfully remained a fond memory in the dusty catacombs of 90s romps, and with so muchuniversal love for Brendan Fraser’s gradual return to the limelight,The Mummyand its sequelReturnsreveal a wildly confident twosome of beautiful films.Not only does Fraser shine as the most rugged of floppy-haired leading men, but he makes up the patchwork of a wholly three-dimensional and assured supporting cast.The Mummyis fleshed out with a variety of great characters, from Rick O’Connell’s English cohorts in Rachel Weisz and John Hannah as a brother and sister team, the unkillable villain Imhotep, to meddling rival excavators (a team of gung-ho Americans solely in it for the treasure) led by Rick’s former buddy, Beni. Also along for the ride is one Gad Hassan, played here by English/Iranian actorOmid Djalili.
Slobbish, unshaven, and unlikeable to be around, the character makes up the world ofThe Mummy’s specific hoodoo take on Egypt so very well. Positioned as the very first stumbling block our characters must overcome, Djalili’s Warden Gad Hassan rules over his heap proudly, introduced to us through a public lynching - and outwardly eager to see leading man O’Connell hung by the neck. He snickers and plots and delights in the morbid theatrics of his own colosseum of incarcerates. Every single line out of Djalili’s mouth that follows is shrieked, high-pitched, and BIG like some kind of overweight and overstimulated parakeet.
WhatThe Mummydoes so well is really fill its world with character. It’s easy to forget just how many actual players there are with names inThe Mummy(not to mention ones with dedicated and varying personalities). As horror movies of old have taught us, however, most of them aren’t going to make it… but to give us characters like the sniveling Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor, who is incredible) and the opposing “beastly” American team, so totally cocksure, makes their respective (and plentiful) deaths all the more earned in the meantime.
Worth Hassan’s Weight in (Blue) Gold
Hassan’s death (the very first of said supporting characters) is perhaps the most grim of the lot. Now, having separated off from the group, Hassan crawls on his knees towards a hidden room in search of treasure he won’t have to share with anyone else. Attached to the wall is a selection of “blue gold” beetles. Djalili’s whole performance, as relatively brief as it may be, brings to mind Nintendo’sWariolandgames—swapping out the yellow ‘W’ hat for a beat up old fez, Hassan rubs his hands and snickers at the idea of robbing graves for 24-carat gold.
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Using his knife, the beetles pop so distinctly from the wall, before one drops to the floor. Inside a scarab cracks from the gold and infiltrates Djalili’s boot, climbing up his foot, to his chest, up his face, and into his brain. Graphically, Hassan pulls his shirt open to reveal the bug’s very visible movement under the skin, scaling his body. It’s grotesque and as it takes him over, Hassan now out of control, he runs screaming head first in to a wall. The scene epitomizesThe Mummyso well—archeological curiosity met with extreme horror, with the darkest of humor to boot. Props to Djalili again for being able to sell theAbbott & Costello Meet The Mummyslapstick stylings too.
The scene, entirely committed to Djalili and playing off of no one else, serves as a warning to his fellow teams and us the audience. This curiosity and greed is only going to end up picking off the rest of the uneducated participants digging up the past. Formerly just a grossbutt of the jokeup until this point, Hassan mostly being there to fall asleep and be a quite literal “whipping boy,” when the viewpoint shifts to be so clearly focused on Hassan’s intentionally gruesome death, things effectively change and a signal is sent to the viewer. This acts as a sign of things to come, and a hint to the true power that this habitat and soon-to-be resurrected villain possess.
Is The Mummy Culturally Insensitive Though?
Various outletshave released articles aboutThe Mummybeing culturally insensitive while citing Djalili’s character directly, questioning whether it’s inappropriate. And to that we’ll say yes—and no. His character owns prisoners and is referred to as having a bad odor on more than one occasion which hardly looks good, but at the very least we would say that this is a fantasy film including magical evil mummies, one that has also gone out of its way to cast actors of color in the first place (making it a far cry from the “brown face” of, say, fellow adventurer Indiana Jones’Temple of Doom15 years prior).
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While that certainly isn’t enough to validate it, do look past just Djalili. Introduced in the film as a meddlesome antagonist, a hurdle in the way of the hero’s journey and the actual story about to unravel, and you also have both Oded Fehr and Erick Avari’s characters. Fehr plays Ardeth Bay, a mysterious villain turned friend, a longtime defender against Imhotep and his evil alongside Dr. Terence Bey (Avari), Evelyn’s former employer, an educated man and business owner who Bay is in cahoots with.
All three mentioned characters are played by actors of color and heritage (Fehr is Isreali and Avari is Indian), all playing Egyptian natives in the film—and all three covering varying levels of the class system. The claims of insensitivity are sound enough, but there is certainly more of a worldview out there as well which should be considered.
Omid Djalili’s Comic Relief
Omid Djalili, most known in the UK asa stand-up comicfirst, theater actor second, and film actor third, hasn’t had too much to write home about on screen after the success ofThe Mummy. His stand-up has always addressed his own heritage and race, with a multitude of silly accents deployed on stage (in 2010The Independentwent as far as to publish an interview headlined “Omid Djalili: ‘I’m cast as the Arab scumbag’").
And with small, similar “Vaguely Middle Eastern Character” supporting roles in massive but middling movies likeSky Captain and the World of Tomorrow(remember that!?),Mamma Mia 2, andPirates of the Caribbean 3(albeit with turns in genuine classics like2001’s Best Picture Oscar WinnerGladiatoras well) the actor continues even over 20 years on to play up that shtick. It’s wildly doubtful, however, that it will ever be as memorable or delightful as his brief but important input inThe Mummy.
