THE MUMMY review
starring Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella
directed by Alex Kurtzman
A review by Helen J. Reynolds
In principle, there's nothing wrong with reboots. The Mummy
franchise is eighteen years old with its last movie bombing just under a decade
ago, so there is a case for trying to give it life again in 2017. However, bringing a
franchise back means bringing something new to what we’ve come to expect from
the series.
So, what does this movie do that's fresh?
So, what does this movie do that's fresh?
There are
new characters, for one. Tom Cruise plays rogue soldier, Nick,
who hunts artefacts in a war-torn desert. The role suits him about as well as the turban we meet him in. His partner-in-crime is Chris (Jake
Johnson), who gets the raw end of a curse after they dig up the tomb of a power-hungry Egyptian princess. The discovery of this forgotten royal is the lifetime work of Jenny
(Annabelle Wallis), but she almost misses the front row seat after Nick sleeps with her then robs her of the map to the tomb's location.
Now awake, Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) strives to complete a ritual that will bring the God of Death to this world and let evil run riot. She thinks Tom Cruise would make for a handsome ruler beside her and marks him as the Chosen One.
It's a plot that holds water but it deeply flawed in the telling. The beginning gets bogged down by a different tomb discovery, of Crusaders buried deep under London. Russell Crowe mysteriously swoops in and gives a convenient voiceover to explain a certain Egyptian dynasty, where we see Ahmanet go to the dark side after her father sires a boy heir. Who Crowe is talking to is not explained, but this is textbook laziness when it comes to storytelling.
The introduction to our hero, Nick, is no less predictable. Bullets flying, his best friend hurling abuse at him for putting them in their dire situation, and all just so they can rob an ancient grave… It's a fairly standard formula that works in the Indiana Jones series, only Harrison Ford is born to play his rogue characters and Tom Cruise is definitively not. He's no Brendan Fraser either, lacking that silliness needed for a movie about zombie rulers.
Not only that but the later heroics he pulls, all for a woman he had a one-night-stand with, and that just so he could steal from her, say nothing modern about relationships. Instead it pushes forward the stale old undying love narrative that doesn't make sense for either of their characters. Nick changes from thief to selfless hero and Jenny spends the movie in need of saving. At least Rachel Weisz’s character underwent significant development.
Now awake, Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) strives to complete a ritual that will bring the God of Death to this world and let evil run riot. She thinks Tom Cruise would make for a handsome ruler beside her and marks him as the Chosen One.
It's a plot that holds water but it deeply flawed in the telling. The beginning gets bogged down by a different tomb discovery, of Crusaders buried deep under London. Russell Crowe mysteriously swoops in and gives a convenient voiceover to explain a certain Egyptian dynasty, where we see Ahmanet go to the dark side after her father sires a boy heir. Who Crowe is talking to is not explained, but this is textbook laziness when it comes to storytelling.
The introduction to our hero, Nick, is no less predictable. Bullets flying, his best friend hurling abuse at him for putting them in their dire situation, and all just so they can rob an ancient grave… It's a fairly standard formula that works in the Indiana Jones series, only Harrison Ford is born to play his rogue characters and Tom Cruise is definitively not. He's no Brendan Fraser either, lacking that silliness needed for a movie about zombie rulers.
Not only that but the later heroics he pulls, all for a woman he had a one-night-stand with, and that just so he could steal from her, say nothing modern about relationships. Instead it pushes forward the stale old undying love narrative that doesn't make sense for either of their characters. Nick changes from thief to selfless hero and Jenny spends the movie in need of saving. At least Rachel Weisz’s character underwent significant development.
Ahmanent
provides a lover's triangle as she courts Nick, sometimes crawling her undead
corpse towards him, other times in beautiful dream sequences out in a desert. Her
styling as both monster and beauty are a standout and give the film a good
look, at least. She also compels after-life-hanger-on Chris to guide Nick to her in scenes that
try for the dark comedy of An American
Werewolf in London, but are unoriginal and completely off tone to the rest
of the movie.
Russell Crowe appears again as Dr Jekyll and it's really a waste of time to explain his role, the lazy naming of the character tells everything you might otherwise have been interested to discover.
Russell Crowe appears again as Dr Jekyll and it's really a waste of time to explain his role, the lazy naming of the character tells everything you might otherwise have been interested to discover.
Overall, the film ticks all the boxes it’s supposed to, but does so by repeating films made decades ago. So much so that you think, why have they bothered to make this now? It's loud, obvious and repetitive. Like meeting the most stereotypical American.
A combination of:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
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