Film review by Claire Durrant of The Mummy, starring Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis.

Action/adventure/fantasy

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Synopsis

Soldiers turned treasure looters Nick (Tom Cruise) and Chris (Jake Johnson) discover the tomb of Ahmanet (Boutella). Along with archaeologist, Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) the three investigate the tomb, and come to realise that it is in fact a prison. Uncovering Ahmanet’s sarcophagus, they transport it to England, unaware of the curse that is set to affect them.

Review, by Claire Durrant

I had heard that The Mummy was considered as one of Tom Cruise’s worst films. That statement alone is what drew me in. They were correct. This film is tough to get through.

This is set up as the first instalment in a Dark Universe franchise – obviously trying to compete with the powerhouse that is Marvel. Universal has planned to revive and Americanise classic ‘British’ monster movies such as Dracula, Wolfman, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and so forth. Clearly the box office failure that was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) was not enough to put them off.

The Mummy has completely underwhelmed me for future instalments, and with actors like Johnny Depp signed up to play The Invisible Man, and Angelina Jolie hinted as the Bride of Frankenstein, clearly Universal are gunning for the big names. However, if they continue to put stardom before substance, then the “meh” response from audiences is expected to continue.

The main problem the film suffers from is its screenplay. With so many people contributing to the script (three other people contributed to the screen story), undoubtably the tone and the pacing will differ. Is it a comedy? Is it a horror? It’s definitely not dark enough to be considered scary, and Cruise’s funny one liners are not enough to warrant it being called a comedy.

Speaking of Mr Cruise, there is no argument that the man is an action stallion. The action scenes are fine, and his acting of the “loveable rogue” archetype is acceptable. The man can act, no doubt about it, unfortunately he’s just not at his best. However, he gets a good line in now and then, and it’s fun to watch him fight zombie, mummy, creature, things.

Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis star in The Mummy (2017). Image: Universal.

Jenny on the other hand is infuriating to watch. Talk about an absolutely useless character. Introduced as the clever one of the group – she sure ain’t smart. Needing to be rescued in about every scene she’s in, we are going back to damsel in distress territory. This film came out the same time as Wonder Woman. Bad timing guys. Plus, are we meant to believe that there is a romantic chemistry between herself and Nick? No, film! No!

Oh, Russell Crowe also turns up with a British accent and much exposition. He’s fun.

So, despite some of the Egyptian imagery being pleasant to see, the film has too many faults to be considered a good film. If we can take anything away from this take on The Mummy, is that hopefully people will be angered by the film so much, they they’ll turn to the far superior Brendan Fraser version. I like that man. Someone has to.

See the official website for the official trailer.

Cast & Credits

Director: Alex Kurtzman. Universal Pictures.

Producers: Sarah Bradshaw, Sean Daniel, Alex Kurtzman & Chris Morgan           .
Writers: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie & Dylan Kussman.
Music: Brian Tyler.
Camera: Ben Seresin.
Sets: Jon Hutman, Dominic Watkins.

Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Russell Crowe.