Profusely old-fashioned and hopelessly predictable, The Mummy works quite admirably in spite of its shameless lack of innovation.

The narrative plunges us into ancient Egypt, where an evil high priest is mummified alive in his tomb and condemned to eternal existence among the undead. Quick cut to 1920’s America, where a gang of treasure-hunters (Fraser, Weisz and Hannah) embark on a mission to the lost city of the dead, only to accidentally awaken the 3,000-year old mummy from its limbo and unleash an array of supernatural powers on the surrounding environment.

The film is even cheesier than the above synopsis would indicate, but if you’re in the mood to go along with it, it passes the time most agreeably. The breathtakingly old-fashioned narrative is backed up by a raft of expensive SFX which lend the movie a much-needed hint of modernity, and the action itself keeps is piled on as thick and fast as one could possibly hope for.

The actors aren’t stretched all that much in extremely straightforward roles, but Brendan Fraser (George Of The Jungle) makes for a very credible all-action superhero, and Rachel Weisz is well-suited to the sidekick/babe interest role.

While nothing in the script will raise any eyebrows, the effects most certainly will (flying locusts, meteor showers, zombies and horrendous man-munching scarab beetles) and serve to lend the film an almost B-movie appeal that thoroughly justifies its existence.