Review of The Mummy (2017) by Leon B — 02 Jan 2018

The Mummy.

(2017).

Plot:

Thought safely entombed deep beneath the desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella) whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day. Her malevolence has grown over millennia and with it come terrors that defy human comprehension. From the sand of the Middle East through modern-day London, The Mummy balances wonder, thrills, and imagination.

Review:

After hearing about the Dark Universe, I was really looking forward to this movie but it just turned out to be a typical Tom Cruise movie, with Cruise being the hero. The beginning reminded me of the old school Indianna movies but not in the same class, and when the Witch gets involved it switches to a mysterious, dark movie, which wasn't that well done. Cruise plays Nick Morton, who seeks for ancient treasures so he sell them for a high price on the black market. After stealing a map from an archaeologist, Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), Nick and his close friend, Sgt. Vail (Jake Johnson) come across a mysterious tomb which is deep beneath the desert. Now that Jenny has caught up with Nick and his sidekick, they decide to ship the tomb back to there homeland, so they can investigate. On there journey, the ancient princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), who was buried alive due to her evil behaviour, comes alive and seeks vengeance as her destiny was unjustly taken from her. As Nick brought her back from the dead, she picks him as her new love but he refuses to cross over to the dark side. There are many other elements to the plot but I decided to keep it simple. Some of the action scenes wasn't too bad but it's hard to see the attention to detail, because it's all shot in the dark. The director tried to add some wit to the project, especially the beginning but it didn't seem to work with the tension that was present on screen. On the plus side, the cinematography was on point and some of the stunts from Cruise were pretty impressive. I was hoping for more from the first movie in this franchise, if they do decide to go on with the Dark Universe and I think they need to rethink the director, who really could have done much more with this all time classic. Disappointing!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Alex Kurtzman, 44, who also brought you People Like Us starring Chris Pine and Michelle Pfeiffer. As this was his second project, he wouldn't have been my first choice to bring this all time classic to the big screen, and judging by the result, the audience agree. The storyline really wasn't on point and Alex didn't push Cruise to the limit. After seeing Tropic Thunder many times, I'm surprised that Cruise hasn't gone in another direction with his acting, to prove that he can cover every element. He seems to be stuck in a rut at the moment, and all of his movies just seem the same. Don't get me wrong, he is good at what he does, and he really does love a challenge when it comes to action but enough is enough. Although this movie made a decent profit, the studios have questioned the future of the Dark Universe, due to the poor reception of this film. I just hope that they go back to the drawing board with the whole franchise because it hasn't had a good start.

Budget: $125million.

Worldwide Gross: $409.1million.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance and Marwan Kenzari. 4/10.