Reboots seem to be all the rage these days, whether it’s something that’s been around for years like King Kong or newer franchises such as Spider-man or in this case The Mummy.
The idea is this time around that The Mummy serves as an introduction into the beginning of an expanded “Dark Universe” series featuring several iconic monsters updated for modern times. Cruise plays Sergeant Nick Morton, a reconnaissance officer of the US Army who, along with sidekick Chris Vail (played by Jake Johnson), discovers antiquities and “liberates” them before selling them on the black market. After narrowly escaping death from a drone-strike at their position in Iraq, the due discover a mysterious tomb secretly buried underneath a village. Enter archaeologist Jennifer Halsey (played by Annabelle Wallis) whose research Nick stole in a one night stand and the eponymous Mummy of Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) is soon discovered. Things immediately start to go awry though (as expected) as Ahmanet’s supernatural powers manifest after being sealed away for 900 years.
The Mummy stars Tom Cruise and is directed by Alex Kurtzman.
Where the original series with Brendan Fraser did well was layering on the action whilst also maintaining a coherent plot and back-story. It was a PG-13 so there was only mild violence and drama but it had the right chemistry between the characters and screenplay to keep the audience engaged. The 2017 reboot is released with a 15 rating in an effort to make things a bit tougher and grittier but loses a lot of style along the way. There are some nice ideas in there but they feel very poorly developed and could have added a new slant on the story. Russell Crowe makes an appearance as the well known horror character Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde) as the head of the organisation Prodigium that tackle supernatural threats but feels pretty underused in the film. Thankfully though, he (or the character at least) will be reappearing for other films in the series. Likewise Sofia Boutella’s Princess Ahmanet should have had more screen time but as it is you learn little more about her other than that she made a deal with the God, Set, for supernatural powers. This is a great shame as her previous films have shown that she’s a talented actress and the brief scenes she does get leave you wanting to find out more about her. Moments of levity do crop up (and the film definitely needed them) but there seems to be a distinct lack of fun such as we had from the previous series.
All in all, it’s your typical average blockbuster; good enough to just about keep you watching but bland enough to not warrant another viewing further down the line. There are plenty of scenes for Cruise and Wallis to run away from various dangers and more than enough zombie minions that suddenly jump out from the shadows but it’s the substance of the story that’s really lacking here. Let’s hope that the subsequent films in the series do better.
Author: Steve, Bristol Store
