Alright, folks, I'm finally going to post my stuff on the Mummy films' similarities to Indy.
This is a well-known topic, I am aware of that. But the whole point of this thread is to re-examine the Mummy franchise, and to hopefully realize just how much of a debt they pay to Indy. In the two current films, there are literally dozens upon dozens of tiny little similarities and references. Let me point out a few that my Indy-seeking eye spied:
1. In The Mummy Returns Alex rides down a pillar in an egyptian temple, knocking it down and causing a dominoes-effect reaction. The camera angles and the overall look of the shot is strikingly similar to the scene in Raiders where Indy topples over the Anubis statue.
2. In The Mummy Returns Evey and Rick enter the room containing the Bracelet of Anubis...and there are tons of scorpions and spiders littered across the floor. This scene is a straight cousin of the bug-critter scene in Temple of Doom.
3. Also, in the sequel, as Rick and Evey return home in London, and Evelyn is trying to convince him to go off on another trip, in this scene Rick is wearing a fedora. This scene is like Indy fan porn when we see Fraser in this getup...it's just so nostalgic.
4. In The Mummy the sacrifice scene at the end has an odd similarity to the Wrath of God ending of Raiders, where Ank-su-namun's soul rises from a bog in a ghostly, purple oozey spirit. This reminded me of the ghosts that cam out of the Ark.
5. The Medjai are basically a Muslim, Egyptian spin on the Brotherhood of the Something-something that tries to keep secret the Grail's location from Indy and Elsa in Last Crusade...except the difference is that the Medjai are 50,000,000 billion times cooler, with Ardeth Bay being the most kick-ass, secret soceity-chieftain to ever walk on the silver screen.
6. In The Mummy the Book of Amun Ra is kind of like the Ark in Raiders, in that both is the MacGuffin of their specific movies. Same goes for the Bracelet of Anubis/Holy Grail and the upcoming Terra Cotta army/Sankara Stones.
7. In the Mummy Returns the jungle of Ahm Shere evokes the South American jungle in the Raiders' prologue, and the Pygmy Mummies are like a miniature, evil-little-muthers version of the Hovitos.
8. I have a feeling that the pyramid that will appear in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is going to have a similar role as the Gold Pyramid in The Mummy Returns.
9. You guy's probably didn't know this, but the biplane used in The Mummy is the very same plane used for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when Indy and Henry Sr. escape the zepplin.
10. Last, but not least, Imhotep is kind of similar to the sadistic cult leader, Mola Ram (who I personally think is the best Indy villain. He uses children as slaves, for god's sake!)
These are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of little things I noticed in the Mummy films. I think it is clear to all that this series is a genuine homage to the Indy movies, and when KOTCS finally comes to pass, the Mummy will continue to support us depressed Indy fans and make up for the absence of any new Indy flicks. Stephen Sommers may be heading the way of the Michael Bay, but what he created with The Mummy was a universe and film series that manages to capture the same goofy, gee-whiz spirit and sense of amazing adventure that made the Indy trilogy so damn brilliant. I hope the Mummy series continues on for many, many years, and that by the end Rick and Evelyn and Alex O'Connell finally find a well-earned place in the annals of great adventure-movie heroes...
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