Review of The Mummy (2017) by Dannygjr — 10 Jun 2017

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Mummy (2017).

The Good: The Hollywood Reporter recently headlined an article, “It’s time for Tom Cruise to Act his Age”, in which the author Josh Spiegel writes, “…, Cruise these days feels more comfortable running himself ragged to prove he hasn’t aged out of action movies yet.”. But Mr. Spiegel, you are so, so, wrong. Mr. Cruise is not trying to prove he hasn’t aged out of action movies yet. Mr. Cruise won’t age out of action for a long time, and if The Mummy is any indication, he will still find ways to wow us. In fact, that’s exactly why Cruise is one of the last great action hero filmmakers. A line that can be drawn directly back to Charlie Chaplin. Have you heard Cruise talk in length about making movies? He’s a total geek. Might I even say an “auteur”. Cruise represents one of the few producers who knows an audience wants to see the star’s face doing those jaw-dropping stunts. (Kevin Costner is one of the few others). Cruise wants you to have a good time. He wants you to suspend your belief. Which is why he completely commits to his roles and has such a famous work ethic. No matter how bad a movie is, if Tom Cruise is in it, he is always going to be part of the good. And in the Mummy, he does not disappoint. His character, Nick, is boyish, funny, and rude. And once the other-worldly curse begins to take hold, we are 100% game to watch him fall out of the sky, get ripped out of a moving van, jump through a bus, and yes, fight an Irish-cockey Russell Crowe. The Bad: Critics would lead you to believe this film is ALL bad. They are wrong. I would rather rate a movie of what it is, not what a critic wants it to be. This movie, much like the classics it originates from, is a hardcore expensive B-movie. This means you will not get slow-building scene work drenched in subtext or an emotional core that will bring you to your knees. What you get is dark twisty humor mixed with 90s cliché’ and a modern take on the mythology of all those monsters you’ve come to know. Our female lead, Annabelle Wallis, is unfortunately flat, providing nothing more than a plot propelling damsel in distress. (Disappointing step backwards given Cruise’s and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s terrific job with Rebecca Ferguson’s character in MI: Rogue Nation). The only true bad is the disastrous expositional dialogue throughout and it’s equally horrendous delivery by the usually very funny Jake Johnson. But what truly tops the bad list is the post-production sound mix and editing. The sound mix seemed incomplete, not adding the needed treble to give that extra boost to the action scenes. The editing is strange. I can only imagine the editors (yup, three of ‘em) were struggling with what they had. The production’s rush job to develop it’s own universe may answer why there is such a terrible lack of continuity from shot to shot and misplaced levels pacing throughout. The Ugly: Contrary to what filmmaker Alex Kurtzman has stated, this is not a standalone film. It’s a film setting-up for more Mummy movies and more importantly setting up the Dark Universe. And I love it. The Dark Universe seems to incorporate these characters that share the same past as League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but does it on it’s own terms and with the added delight of taking place in present times. Russell Crowe is a blast to watch as Dr. Jekyll and the smaller easter eggs alluding to other well-known characters is fun to find throughout. Like I mentioned before, this is a 90s film, and I love it for that. It’s taking these classic “monsters” and updating them to the current superhero mytho we’ve come to accept as a movie going nation. They should take DCEU’s path, don’t let critics scare you off, keep plowing ahead until it clicks. Now, unlike DCEU, the money in ticket sales might not be there, but even if Universal breaks even, I hope the have the balls to keep moving forward with this planned Universe.