Good Afternoon Lovelies,

Tom Cruise has made his career all about action films as of late. From Edge of Tomorrow to the Mission Impossible franchise, he has turned his back on the likes of Rain Man and Cocktail, to bring stunts galore to our screens. But it feels like it might be time to return to those classic features, because The Mummy is an over the top thrill less adventure.

The first film in the Dark Universe series, created by Universal and announced earlier this year, sees Cruise play Nick Morton who must tackle the evil Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). An evil Egyptian Princess who turns to the dark side to get her father’s crown. Joining him is Russell Crowe, who brings Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to the film (more on this in a minute), Annabelle Wallis playing Nick’s love interest/architect Jenny Halsey and Jake Johnson, as Chris Vail, Nick’s co-worker.

From all the trailers, the film looked set to be a thriller for all, as Boutella’s evil character tries to overpower all those in her path. What the film actually gives us is a massive crossover of The Walking Dead, Hot Fuzz and all of Tom Cruise’s film rolled into one, with a very weird adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde added into the mix. Right away the cuts are to sharp and the story loses plot points, seeming to make for fast viewing to try and get us all to the good bits.

However, it doesn’t work. As a viewer, you can see that the films script hasn’t been given the focus and attention that it needs to make the characters stand out. Wallis’ Jenny is made to look weak, when viewers of Peaky Blinders will know Wallis doesn’t need to play, as the character relies on Cruise’s Nick to help her survive and to bring her back to life. Something that also plays out in Boutella’s villain, who only rises from the dead to try and give the man in her life a human body to live.

The only characters who are strong are Johnson’s Chris and Crowe’s Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde. Both aren’t featured much, but manage to steal the screen when around. Especially Crowe, who as the famous literary figures could have been given his own film to showcase them. It would have been better viewing, than the short appearances of him. Unlike Cruise, who seems to treat The Mummy as a lunch break from his next big feature.

There was so much promise to be had with this film. But with lacklustre action, predictable plot lines and characters who don’t seem to give it their all, it just doesn’t work. Don’t get me wrong there are definitely some moments that work, such as Johnson’s comedic moments and Crowe’s twisted figure, but apart from these, the story doesn’t build a better feature than its 90s counterpart. It kind of destroys the joy of it.

Director Alex Kurtzman’s has tried to make a story, which was always going to be hard to recreate since there isn’t much you can do with The Mummy’s story, better by using IMAX features and clever CGI to keep it fresh. However, even though the IMAX 3D is great it just doesn’t make the film stand out as something new.

Due to this, I think it is time to wrap this film back up with this…

2 Stars

Blog Soon,

Joey X