It's the summer blockbuster season and Hollywood has treated us to a brand new reboot, of a reboot, of what also could possibly be considered a reboot. Directed by Alex Kurtzman, he of angering fan boy fame after writing the poorly received Star Trek Into Darkness and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Universal Studios bring us their first film in what we're reliably informed is set to start their own cinematic universe 'The Dark Universe' which will feature all the classic horror characters they own the rights to. So The Mummy holds the weight of The Mummy stars Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, a US military officer who along with 'comic' sidekick Chris (Jake Johnson) and archaeologist Jennifer (Annabelle Wallis) discovers the tomb of ancient Egyptian Mummy Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). Needless to say they awaken Ahmanet and she sets out to find Nick, stab him with an ancient dagger, which in the process will unleash the evil God Set into a human form who Ahmanet owes a debt to for giving her powers in the first place, simple enough.
There are plenty of things to like about this film, the first of which is that with its 15 rating it is really effectively creepy in many places, it should labour on the gothic in more places but there are some mildly frightening jump scares. Performance wise it's also quite strong, Cruise makes this sort of fare look easy, and following on from Jack Reacher and Edge of Tomorrow it is interesting to see him play another largely unlikeable character. Anabelle Wallis gives it her all but she is lumped with an extremely poor character, even by Hollywood's usual standards she is given next to nothing to do. Sofia Boutella could have been the most exciting thing about this film, gender swapping the main antagonist could have been a bold move and Boutella really is stunning in the role, but what they've done with the character is deeply infuriating and borderline offensive. Instead of Ahmanet being a fearsome foe, she's made completely subservient to a greater male God, which through narrative quirks means that Ahmanet is infatuated with Tom Cruise's character. It also leads to a third act conclusion which plays out in a manner which makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing.
There's no way of getting around the fact that the moment that you pause for any semblance of thought, this entire film falls apart, but if you avoid fighting against it and ride the wave of stupidity, there are some base level pleasures to be taken from it. Kurtzman draws heavily from Raiders of the Lost Ark, An American Werewolf in London and the previous The Mummy films in all their forms, but it's never as fun or as original as them, but without them the film wouldn't be any good at all, because whilst your watching moments that remind you of those films it at least momentarily gives you joy at the thought of watching those far superior films when you get home.
The greatest sin that this film commits begins in the opening titles of the film, the moment we see Universal's 'Dark Universe' logo and we realise this is all a part of something bigger. Attempting to set up this new universe is so detrimental to this film as an individual picture, its script becomes unnecessarily clunky and baggy, and it also means that it has to introduce Russell Crowe in to what is surely the most stupid and laughable scene you'll see this year. It puts the cart before the horse and the lack of patience on the studios part will only be to their loss.
No sugar coating it, this has absolutely died at the box office, the universe hasn't yet ended before its begun though, too many wheels are in motion and Johnny Depp is signed up for The Invisible Man and Javier Bardem is on board as Frankenstein's Monster, but no matter the stars or the subject matter, if the films continue to be as disappointing as this and lose as much money as this, then the 'Dark Universe' could become a whole lot darker.
(High 2 Stars)
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