Women of Action: Patricia Velasquez – The Mummy series

Stephen Sommers returned in 2001, two years after The Mummy to stormed onto screens and introduced the world to the tale of the Imhotep and his tragic story. Was Imhotep really that bad of a guy? Probably not. But when you’re turning yourself into a giant sand storm and trying to swallow fools up you don’t exactly present a very good case for being a “nice guy”. One thing that we can pretty much all agree on is that the performances in the first couple of Mummy movies gave it a huge leg up. Watching Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and Arnold Vosloo duke it out on the dark continent only satiated our desires to see more from the trio. What happened, unfortunately, was that the series continued on with Fraser and replaced Weisz with Maria Bello and dropped the story of Imhotep in favor of Jet Li. I would argue that losing Weisz was a huge blow to the success of the third movie in the franchise but what I believe is the biggest loss is that relationship that created the mummy in the first place. The love between Imhotep and his darling Anck-Su-Namun.

Not everyone can understand the mental and physical toll on one’s soul when they’re mummified. I highly doubt that anyone outside of maybe the Invisible Man or Dick Clark really get behind a man wrapped in bandages. What’s even more important to acknowledge, though, is the emotional state that the mummy found himself in upon being brought back into the world of the living. He died because of his love for Anck-Su-Namun and he would make his “new life” solely about bringing her back. Good choice, bro.

I like to think that The Mummy series is more about the tragedy of a love that isn’t allowed. Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun didn’t “belong” together in the same way that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz’s characters didn’t belong together. What changed in the time between the two romances was the generational acceptance of two people who weren’t necessarily in the same class. What man wouldn’t be physically attracted to Patricia Velasquez? But it’s a whole different ballgame when you’re cursed to Hell, brought back as a mummy dude, and then use all your power to return your one true love. Love is a beautiful thing….