The Counter-Curse Climax (The Mummy) The Mummy (1999)

Protagonist	Rick O'Connell (and Evelyn)
Mission	Stop Imhotep — get the key, recite the counter-curse, kill him mortal.
Runtime	124m
Climax	beat 37 · 111m · 90% into film
Wind-down	beats 38–40 · 113m–124m · 13m long
Resolution type	validation

The climax

Imhotep has begun the resurrection ritual; Jonathan arrives with the Book of Amun-Ra but cannot open it without the key.^b34 Rick fights Imhotep to retrieve the key; Jonathan reads the wrong inscription and summons hostile mummy warriors;^b35 Jonathan struggles with the last symbol; Evelyn coaches him from the altar — "Ahmenophus."^b36 Evelyn reads the counter-curse; Imhotep becomes mortal; Rick stabs him.^b37 The post-midpoint approach (work as a coordinated team, exploit the Book pair, mortalize Imhotep so a mortal weapon can finish him) is tested at maximum stakes — the crew split across the ritual chamber, the key contested, the warriors active — and holds.

The wind-down differs because

Beat 38 (Beni hoards treasure as Hamunaptra collapses; the closing door seals his fate),^b38 beat 39 (Ardeth Bay bids farewell — the Medjai's three-thousand-year mission complete),^b39 beat 40 (Jonathan complains about going home empty-handed; Rick looks at Evelyn and says "I wouldn't say that").^b40 Diagnostic: the counter-curse tested whether the team could mortalize Imhotep in time; Beni's death closes a sub-arc; Ardeth's farewell enacts the institutional closure; Rick's closing line delivers the new equilibrium (the romance plot resolved into the mission's reward).

Why this is a validation climax

The post-midpoint approach is built across the rescue sequence: Rick recruits Winston (b30), Winston flies them through Imhotep's sand-wall (b31), Henderson dies but the team reaches Hamunaptra, Jonathan finds the Book of Amun-Ra at the base of the Horus statue. By the time the resurrection ritual starts, the team has the Book pair, the key is contested but reachable, and the counter-curse plan is fully formed. The climax tests whether the team can execute the plan against an active ritual under warrior assault. Validation: realization at the team-up, build through the rescue, confirming test in the ritual chamber.