Universal Pictures has been known for having their classic horror monsters to the screen for decades like Dracula, The Wolfman, Frankenstein’s monster, etc. Now with nearly every studio creating a shared universe (MCU, DCEU, Warner Bros. MonsterVerse), they started the Dark Universe as it features the trademark monsters setting up something eventful. Even though we can forget the terrible Dracula Untold as it was supposed to be the beginning of the universe, the reboot of The Mummy might be a good start. Is this a welcome to a new world of Gods and Monsters?
When soldier of fortune Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and his partner come under attack in the Middle East, the ensuing battle accidentally unearths Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella, Kingsman: The Secret Service), a betrayed Egyptian princess who was entombed under the desert for thousands of years. With her powers constantly evolving, Morton must now stop the resurrected monster as she embarks on a furious rampage through the streets of London.
Wasn’t anticipating too much as while it sounds like it could be a solid reboot, none of the trailers didn’t make me excited about seeing it. This is a remake of the 1932 classic with Boris Karloff, which was then remade with The Mummy trilogy with Brendan Frasier. I’m not a huge fan of them as they are too campy for my taste. But with the star power of Cruise and mummies all around, maybe this could be a fresh start. However, this feels like an ill start all around.
Still can’t figure out why they decided to get director Alex Kurtzman, known for being the screenwriter of Star Trek and Transformers (co-wrote the first two but the first is worth noting), to do a big-budget horror movie. This isn’t his directorial debut as he directed the dramedy People Like Us, which I kind of liked. Somebody that has a style of horror could’ve done a better job, in my opinion.
Crossing into the action sequences, nothing was particularly going to be remembered. The plane sequence was kind of thrilling, but all the rest didn’t amount to anything. Nothing can be said about running from a dust cloud in London.
Cruise is always good in whatever movie he’s in. Even though I thought his character was unlikable, he still pulls it off as he gives a committed performance as always. Seeing him being in another franchise that’s not named Mission: Impossible won’t get me to like it. And Boutella as Princess Ahmanet goes a good job. Coming off of Star Trek Beyond, she’s still very talented.
Probably the reason why the film doesn’t work was the script because really a mess as it was trying to get so many things in one movie as six different writers came up with this story. The tone is very inconsistent as it doesn’t know what it wants to be. But almost with every movie that’s a part of some connected universe almost does something that annoys me: setting up the universe and shoving it down our throats.
Russell Crowe plays Dr. Henry Jekyll who basically plays the Nick Fury of this universe as he explains everything in exposition dialogue telling Morton but basically to us about the organization Prodigium aka the Monster version of S.H.I.E.L.D. His job is there was exposition purpose. He does his role well it’s just that he didn’t need to appear in the film to set up a standalone movie on its own.
None of the comedy worked for me as the tone was really inconsistent. Most of the jokes came from Jake Johnson as the comic relief of the film, and while I think he’s funny, he was annoying for the times he’s on screen. He worked in Jurassic World, but not here. It’s also not scary at all. They’ll throw in some jump scares for effective but it wasn’t frightening even with bad CGI mummies chasing our protagonist.
And I can’t tell if some moments were hallmarks to An American Werewolf in London. I watched it a few weeks ago and I just had that thought in my head every time it happens.
I’m just curious on how the rest of the movies will go forward because I really want this franchise to be entertaining because it’s not making me excited about the rest of the slate they have right now. Overall, The Mummy was vastly disappointing who really wants this to be good. There’s nothing to get excited about yet as this is probably going to be forgotten movie of the summer movie season.
There’s more fun riding the Revenge of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios Florida five times than sitting through this.
The Mummy didn’t provide any fun or scares that’s to be expected as it felt bloated trying to launch Universal’s Dark Universe.
Grade: D+
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