Review of The Mummy (2017) by Ghost%20 R — 09 Jun 2017

The Mummy is a blockbuster adventure and the start in Universals film series known as the Dark Universe. May not be a great movie. It does its best in entertaining with some exciting action sequences, some decent visual effects, and Tom Cruise taking the lead in this adventure story of Gods and Monsters universe. In all comparison, this film does take itself way to seriously which does make you miss the humor and fun that Brendan Fraser had in his first two Mummy movies until the third one was a complete waste of time. But seriously, the action and the humor of the first two movies is what made it work.

The plot follows a treasure hunting soldier Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and his buddy Chris (Jake Johnson) being caught in the middle of a battle in Iraq. Only to discover a hidden buried tomb underneath a small village. Brings the attention of the military and archaeologist Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) who wants to bring the tomb back to London to study it. Only to unravel the tomb of princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) who was mummified after she murdered her father and his new newborn for being the next in the heir. She awakens to release evil in the world and wants to resurrect a god of death.

What I liked about The Mummy is the film was very fast paced. Clocking in around an hour and forty mins. There was plenty of action and lots of seeing Tom Cruise running on screen again. It never slows down until the mid second act of meeting Henry (Russell Crowe) and his organization that has a hidden agenda of hunting monsters. Which does make the direction of the movie feel a little weird since this is a Mummy movie and it is opening up a world of other existent monsters. Like the role that Russell Crowe is playing which is a good choice. Yes, the direction may be rushing of showing us this universe and may be at times incoherent. It is an adventure movie but tries to be scary when it is not. Also, has that American Werewolf in Paris feel when Nick is talking to a ghostly figure of a character that is guiding him the direction he needs to go. If you could put aside with all this set up for this universe and enjoy it for what it is trying to do.

Tom Cruise is an awesome actor. I love most of his movies. I am curious to see the direction his character has for this universe. Sofia Boutella is amazing. After seeing her in Kingsman and Star Trek. She portrays a good villain. Annabelle Wallis was decent as the archaeologist. Russell Crowe plays an interesting character. That I am excited to see more.

The action sequences like the plane crashing and seeing Tom and Annabelle in a zero g stunt. It was thrilling and exciting. Plus seeing these characters fight against the undead that Ahmanet keeps rising after she sucks the life out of these people is also exciting. Then, some more running in London as Ahmanet is chasing them with her sandstorm destroying the city.

The one thing I did not like with The Mummy is the first two acts did well building up the suspense and cramming up a lot with this universe. The action in the climax was pretty short. Action in movies is suppose to get more exciting as it reaches the climax. When it came to Nick fighting with Ahmanet, it was short and ended to quickly. The climax was not as exciting like the first two acts. Felt like the director Alex Kurtzman wanted to end the movie a little too soon.

Overall, The Mummy is a good blockbuster film, it may take itself too seriously leaving out the humor that the original trilogy had. Tom Cruise may seem out of place as the cocky character. The film has plenty of action and fast paced. May not be a smart move in making it a fast paced if they are trying to build this Dark Universe. Its worth checking out if you are looking for escapism this summer and need to see a blockbuster movie.