The Mummy Movie Review

Universal Studios has long history of horror and fantasy movies from back in the day. It is time to revive those golden years with something they call the “Dark Universe”. Many of the creatures and monsters from the past will be remade, with the first one in the series called “The Mummy”. This will not be the same one as the 1999 version with Brendan Fraser. No sir, this will star Tom Cruise! But it will have the same big bad monster as the last time, however it will be a female version…

Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Sergeant Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are attached to an Army unit in a far off village in Iraq. Nick is helping to locate “precious antiquities” in the desert, and a bomb explosion has uncovered an ancient Egyptian tomb. Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) is searching for the same buried treasures, and she has a special pass from the London government to assist Nick and Chris Vail. However, what they find is soon to be discovered not as a burial site, but an Egyptian tomb/prison for a wicked Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella).

Ahmanet had become an evil power-hungry killer, who had murdered the Pharaoh and his family. Her punishment was to be entombed alive, as far away from Egypt as possible. But now her sarcophagus is being unearthed and flown to London. There is a secret group there that oversees finding all monsters and destroying them. It is led by Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe), however he has a bad tendency to turn into Mr. Hyde. Not the nicest chap on the block. The plane ride does not end well, with Chris Vail being possessed by ‘The Mummy’ (Ahmanet) and Nick shooting him dead. The plane is about to crash, and Nick saves Jenny, but he does not survive.

Until he does survive, without any explanation. But wait, Chris Vail is still there, and he is dead. But Nick can see him sometimes. The Mummy has broken out of her coffin, and attacks the guards at the plane crash site. She sucks the life from them, and they become her un-dead zombie slaves. There is a secretly stashed knife in an abbey nearby. It was smuggled out of Egypt by the Crusaders years ago. But there is a special crystal gem that gives the knife special powers. It was taken off the knife years ago, and now The Mummy needs it badly.

Jenny and Nick work together to help Dr. Jekyll finally capture The Mummy. Jekyll plans to kill and examine the remains of Princess Ahmanet, to find out how she become The Mummy. But Nick has a special bond with The Mummy, because she needs a new victim to kill in a ritual that will make him an Egyptian god. Oh, yeah, there’s lots going on, and the action goes on full tilt. But there is a confusing mish-mash of why most of this happening. Dead Chris Vail is still around on occasion, and he lightens up the mood. Nick is always overwhelmed when he tries to fight off The Mummy, the evil Mr. Hyde, and all the un-dead zombies chasing after him.

So this is pretty typical summer movie, with a bare plotline and tons of wild action. The major reintroduction of The Mummy, and Jekyll & Hyde as an aside, is real reason for the movie. This will become one of many based on the old creatures and monsters in the Universal Studio catalog. They want you to forget the 1999 version (with Brendan Fraser) and take this movie as the exciting start of something big. We will see how that goes. All the acting is OK, for a summer monster movie.

Tom Cruise runs and fights and gets along with his co-stars well. Annabelle Wallis does fine, but not memorable. Russell Crowe is low-key as Dr. Jekyll, and then turns into crazy-town when he becomes Mr. Hyde. Jake Johnson could have been used a lot more to lighten up the tone of the movie. Sofia Boutella is an attractive lady, but she has makeup and shrouding strands that bring her looks down quite a lot…

This creature feature can also be found playing in ‘No Reason to be 3-D’. 3-D does not show up well in dark and dimly-lit scenes, and there are plenty of them here. There are very few times in the movie where any 3-D stands out as a benefit to the scene. It just makes you put on dark glasses in a dark theater to watch a dark movie. It seems like more of a money grab then a way to make a more enjoyable product.

So, make room for sweet nostalgia in your new monster movies. Don’t look for well thought-out plots and dialog. Look for stunts and explosions and visual CGI. Don’t expect great character development, but get ready for lots of action in exotic places. Stay away from light-hearted comedy touches, get ready for serious ACTING!. This is not the 1999 “The Mummy”.

Tom Cruise, you’re no Brendan Fraser!