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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1537076" data-attributes="member: 812">No they don't.How's that for a comeback?  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Okay, point by point.Action: The Mummy -- I prefer watching real people do cool things than animated characters do anything. The final swordfight between Rick and the mummies is one of the classic fight scenes of all time. It's original, funny, graceful, believable and thrilling. The first couple of fights in VH were GREAT (Hyde and the fight in the village) but after that it just got incoherent, loud and tedious. And the final fight between Dracula and VH was just lame. There's no excuse for that.Characters: The Mummy -- what's important in an action movie are characters whose motivations are clear and who pursue their goals with vigour and determination. In The Mummy, Evelyn wants to learn the secrets of Hamunaptra and Rick wants money (and Evelyn). They then proceed very straighforwardly to go after those things. What exactly does VH want? To kill Dracula? Why? The only reason he's going after Dracula is because he's TOLD to -- and early on in the film it's suggested that he's not super-happy with just sort of killing people because he's told to. So what does he WANT? To find out the secret of his past? Well, maybe, but he never does anything to find out, so I'm not watching him do that so who cares? He can't manifest vigour and determination because he has no goal, so I'm not very interested in him as a person, so I don't much care about anything else in the film.Stunts: a wash. Neither film features a stunt that is demonstratably better than any stunt in the other. The Mummy has a whole slew of great high falls, horse stunts, and one of the best ratchet pulls I've ever seen (watch happens to the guy they throw off the car while careening through the streets of Cairo). VH has lots of good stunts, too, but nothing any more impressive than what's in the other film.Visual Effects: Van Helsing. Well, it's been what, five years? I should hope the effects are better. It'd be embarrassing if they weren't.Plot: Come on. Even people who like this film are admitting the story makes no sense and has holes you could sail the Seventh Fleet through. If you think you can make that one stick, you're welcome to try.Style: Okay, pretty much an imponderable. I like deserts and Arab-y stuff and 1920's so The Mummy does pretty well for me. Kate Beckinsale in tight black is no hardship either. A wash.So we have The Mummy clearly winning on two counts and VH on one, with the others no clear winner at all. The Mummy wins this round.Ding ding!Ooh, cutting! But you don't want to go there, my friend, because VH gets CHEWED UP on those counts, I guarantee.A couple of examples will suffice:Evelyn meets Rick in the Cairo Prison. Watch how specific their performances are. They're responding to each other with HUGE sparkage -- we know right from here that these two are made for each other. When Rick responds to Evelyn's question "Do you swear?" with "Every damn day," we see the first level of his character -- hard-bitten rogue -- but then he follows that up with, "I know what you mean. I was there," and we see the heart of gold our hero REALLY has. And Fraser and Weisz pull it off beautifully.Evelyn gets drunk at the camp and defends her presence to Rick. This is a great scene, one that has no comparision in VH. "I am... proud of... what I am..." "And... what is that?" "I am... a librarian!" Rick's hesitant question perfectly captures the uncertain male as he ventures into the always-dicey waters of feminine pride. It's funny and touching and believable.And miles above anything Jackman or Beckinsale get to do -- I think they're both competent actors but they weren't given anything to do in VH. Beckinsale did more acting in Underworld.I guess if you don't think mummies are cool, chances are you won't enjoy a movie called The Mummy. Call me crazy.It's no argument to suggest one film is better than the other, but it does explain your position very well.Can you reference the "really, really bad CGI" in The Mummy? Cause when I watch that film it stands out for the quality of its effects work. Indeed, it was nominated for a slew of awards for its effects work, so to suggest that they *sucked* is going to be hard for you to support, I suspect. But give it your best shot. Or else concede that the effects in The Mummy were more than good enough to serve the purpose of an action film.You do. Everyone does. I'm frankly startled you would say this.What makes a good action movie? Thrills and chills, right? What makes thrills thrilling and chills chilling is that they are happening to people we care about.We care about people if we understand their situation, see what they want, and observe them working hard to achieve it. Those things can ONLY be delivered through "performances, script and direction". Yes sir. Without them, all the special effects in the world are just so much fireworks.I didn't understand VH's situation very well, I had NO IDEA what he wanted and therefore I couldn't figure out if he was working hard to achieve it or not. Sure, he's trying to kill Dracula. Why should I care? Answer: I don't.You might disagree with whether or not you understood VH, but you can't pretend that "performances, script and direction" aren't of primary importance to a good action film. The criteria as to what are good "performances, script and direction" are different for action films than for romantic comedies, but they're equally important.I mean, I like fireworks as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't pay $8 to watch a fireworks display. And at least with fireworks they're ACTUALLY GOING OFF RIGHT OVERHEAD. Ever watch a movie of fireworks going off? Not so super thrilling, is it? That's because they lack performances, script and direction. Hm.</blockquote>

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