Very well executed

Overrated

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

If you've seen any of The Mummy films, then you know what to expect from this cheaper TV movie that's very much in the same genre, with the same plot line.We have an ancient evil unearthed, a woman who is the 're-incarnated' soul of a corrupted innocent, lots of fighting, and the defeat of evil, with lots of tunnels and water.There are a few changes to the plot, some of which work, some don't. I liked Tom Bosley's Rabbi, with his knowledge of ancient Hebrew and the biblical/rabbinical texts that helped to explain much of what was happening without some annoying kid wandering around the set - which really annoyed me in The Mummy 2. There was only one mythical creature - a giant mummy - so none of those annoying swinging monkeys, mummified soldiers who don't know how to fight, or great unleashings of magic power that the Mummy had.The Fallen Ones has a smaller budget, so the effects are much fewer and more subdued, and the direction and editing were a bit shoddy. Some tighter editing of the fight scenes would have ratcheted up the tension. At least the female wasn't a useless victim and she didn't scream at every opportunity. However, with the smaller budget, the film comes over as a bit more realistic and I enjoyed it because of that.There are moments of humour, as per the clichés of modern Mummy films, lots of events happen in the dark, and a hero with chiselled jaw who starts off on the wrong foot and falls heavily for the female lead. It's all very predictable, but I found the journey enjoyable nevertheless.OK, some of the special effects were poorly done, especially when the giant is seen with normal sized men, and some of the acting is ropey, but the main characters are all on form so the movie keeps moving along without jarring to a halt due to some naff dialogue. Indeed, with a budget to match The Mummy, this could easily have been the Mummy 4.One of the questions at the start of the film is, why is there a giant mummy in Arizona? I know it was probably done to keep the budget down. No trip to Egypt meant everyone could stay in a Hilton hotel and eat at the IHOP, but the movie does provide an explanation for the chosen location, so someone was paying attention to some of the loose ends.This isn't a film where you engage the brain, it's a modest blockbuster, with a predictable plot. Sit down, disengage brain, relax and enjoy a straightforward 21st Century Mummy film. I know I did.

Giants have been in every mythology of every culture. This particular story takes place in Ancient Sumeria right before the flood of Noah. The story is based on the Biblical passages from Genesis and the passages from the non-Biblical Book of Enoch and the eventual return of the fallen angels and more matings with the daughters of Men as mentioned in the New Testament in the end times. The basis of this story starts with Genesis chapter 6 The matings of the Sons of God (Angels) and the Daughters of Men and their gigantic (more physically like the Titans of Greek Mythology in height anyways)cannibalistic (reference the Book of Enoch) offspring the Nephilim. The Angel Ammon knowing of the flood plans to have his hybrid son Aramis(?,the writer of this piece could have come up with a better name than this the origin of the name is Greek and is most associated with the Musketeer Aramis of Three Musketeers fame and mens cologne. He could have picked any mythological god or giant of Middle Eastern or Greek mythology)drugged and put in a deep sleep and mummified to call forth in the end times. The Sumerian priests sacrifice then mummify (Egyptian influence?The Egyptian civilization wasn't around during the flood)several male slaves and one female who are to serve Aramis when he is resurrected in the end times. The drug given by the priests to Aramis causes Aramis to become an insane mummy which causes his father Ammon to magically put him to sleep. After Noah's flood Ammon arrives during the time of Lot (Genesis Chapter 19)to destroy the city of Sodom and to start a new race of Nephilim with the youngest daughter of Lot. After Ammon destroys the city of Sodom (There are three theories as to why the citizens of Sodom were destroyed the first being homosexuality,second inhospitality to strangers and the third lusting after "strange flesh" flesh not of the human persuasion such as Humans having sex with fallen angels which also gave rise to the legends of the succubi,incubi and demon lovers)and possibly humans having sex with certain animals like apes Yeti and Sasquatch hybrids and then if you look at some of the half human gods in different mythologies maybe there was a reason why those myths were created. Ammon destroys the wife of Lot and persuades the two surviving daughters of Lot to get their own father drunk and commit incest with him and become pregnant. The younger daughter of Lot is also the lover of the fallen angel Ammon she has relations with Ammon and her father Lot the same night. She names her son after her fallen angel lover Ammon Ben-Ammi unfortunately for Ammon Ben-Ammi is the son of Lot and is human not giant. So skip over to thousands of years and Ammon is back to start another race of hybrid Nephilim in the 21st century and out of love resurrect his brain damaged giant of a son who's body is found not in Iraq (Ancient Sumeria) but in the United States in what was once Native American territory. The acting was decent considering some of the script they had to work with. This film could have left out the metal mummy machine and the idiotic chant of the followers of Ammon "Ammon Naamah".Strange chant. Naamah by the way was a descendant of Cain and one of the first women to mate with a fallen angel named Shamdon and their son was a half-demon known as Asmodai or Asmodeus and another descendant of Cain was a Naamah who was the wife of Noah of the flood fame. Anyone who loves mythology,the Bible,B-Movies reminiscent of the 1940's and 1960's mummy or Ray Harryhausen flicks will enjoy this film.

"The Fallen Ones" is a pretty good cheese-fest that really only has a couple flaws.**SPOILERS**In the Arizona Desert, archaeologist Matt Fletcher, (Casper Van Dien) and his friend Gus Ferguson, (Geoffrey Lewis) find remains of a ritual burial site after several thousand years. Searching a burial spot nearby, he finds a mummy in the ground and Angela, (Kristen Miller) a fellow worker on the site, grows concerned that it might interfere with their business. Digging more at the site, they find the mummy is over forty feet long and buried in an Egyptian manner. Growing more concerned, the staff at the site starts disappearing making owner Morton, (Robert Wagner) and investor Ammon, (Navid Negahban) feel that the discovery could upset the build of a new casino. As it gradually becomes apparent that one of the members of the site's staff is in conjunction with the resurrection of the mummy, (Robert Allen Mukes) which is a son of a God, by a small sect of followers that want it brought back, and race to stop it from happening.The Good News: This wasn't all that bad when it really wanted to be. One of it's best features is that it manages to incorporate several new ideas into this type of genre. There's a regular amount of the clichés found in this style of film, yet there's also some features that are new to this one. There's a giant animated effigy of the creature that pops up in the film, the mummy's a giant monstrosity and there's a series of small fist-fights that really don't belong with this type of film. This amounts to a real large amount of action in the film that manages to really make it watchable. The several fights are pretty fantastic, including one that takes place in the background of another scene that don't know about it. That in itself is a hilarious visual, and it's done wonderfully. The last half hour, where the giant mummy is unleashed and goes on a rampage, is it's most action-packed and entertaining segment that includes a rather unusual car chase, several more fist-fights and it's most intense scene, a massive flood that really works on a lot of levels. The idea of doing so is handled well, the visuals are perfect, and the premature detonation gives some potential suspense in the race to get out alive. This is also one of the few films to positively benefit from having a cheesy atmosphere, as this one can't in all circumstances be considered anything other than cheese, and it reveals in it and works to its advantage more often than it should. The resurrected mummy itself is also a pretty impressive site, towering over everything and allowing it's huge size to generate most of it's shocks. There's enough bandage and rotten features to make it seem like it's been dead for ages, and it even manages to work in one of the most clever scenes ever in the prologue to explain it's motive for rampaging later on. This is hardly ever done, and that it was done was a really pleasant surprise. The last big surprise was the single sequence where the villain's plans were unveiled to the one who had figured it out. There's a lot to love about it, and it's a surprising one to be included in the film. These here lift the film up a lot.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot here that didn't really work. The biggest issue is that the CGI effects in here are pretty bad. There's really very few scenes where they even look the closest side of believable, and that they all come in during the big effects scenes at the end manages to take a lot of the luster out of them. Even going so far as to animate an entire confrontation between two figures that shouldn't have been in that manner to begin with. Add in the fact that there's a large amount of the action scenes done with CGI and it simply makes it feel fake as it never feels like it's happening together. It's a problem with all these types of films, and this one is no exception. The high cheese-quotient might also be a hindrance to some, as it's impossible to take seriously with all that's going on in the film with giant mummies being resurrected and incorporating fallen angels and biblical prophecies into the mix along with giant robot effigies, and this becomes a real fight for some. The last big problem is that this simply feels like a low-budget hodgepodge of several other films combined together, and then rips them off fairly accurately. They're easy to spot, so they won't be revealed here, but there's a lot of them on hand, allowing for yet another disadvantage.The Final Verdict: This is a pretty entertaining cheese-fest that manages to work in that favor rather than being a handicap. Worth a look for those who enjoy these turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy films or want to see a few new spins on the mummy genre, while those that don't like the cheesy films should exercise caution.Rated R: Violence and Language

What a piece of junk this movie was. The premise was okay, but even in the beginning with crappy effects to blend in a giant with normal sized people (even the effects in Hercules was better) I knew this would be bad. But the really awful part of the movie is the dialogs. It's completely incoherent, silly and stupid. I felt like it had been written by some 9th grader in creative class and gotten a D-. I want to slap Casper van Diem and the other actors for following this movie through.I've had my share of cheesy and bad movies (I love the tremors series), but this... I do not recommend it at all. It's silly and the totally flabbergastingly bad dialogs will make you cringe.