The Mummy (2017) | Movie Review

Once a classic isn't always a classic!

The Mummy (2017) is directed by Alex Kurtzman and stars Tom Cruise (Nick Morton), Russell Crowe (Dr. Henry Jekyll), Sofia Boutella (Ahmanet) and Annabelle Wallis (Jenny Halsey). The film is a reboot remake of the 1999 movie of the same name. However, this time around, it's setting up Universal's Dark Universe. A cinematic universe, much like the MCU, dedicated to movie monsters such as Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein and more. With that said, The Mummy has a pretty straight-forward story: Nick Morton is good-hearted thief who teams up with a beautiful archeologist, Jenny Halsey, as they escape the titular character, the Mummy. The only departure the 2017 film makes from the 1999 classic is that the antagonist is female. Other than that there are few surprises in this roughly 2 hour popcorn flick.

You can tell that Universal is really putting their money where their mouth is regarding the Dark Universe. The production quality and scale of the film is apparent from the opening scenes. From the dimly lit caves at the beginning to the sandstorm raging through London at the end, it all looks incredible and expensive. On a slight side note, usually when a film has a zero gravity scene the studio gets a closed off room and set designers and decorators (along with some movie magic) make it look like a plane. The actors then wear wires that pull them up off the ground when the cameras are rolling and then they play pretend. This is the cheaper alternative to doing it practically. In this film (thanks to Tom Cruise's knack for risking his life) the filmmakers went the Christopher Nolan route and decorated the interior of a Zero G plane which is then taken into orbit to simulate real zero gravity. Also if you are a sucker for easter eggs (like myself) you'll be treated with a plethora of nods to upcoming titles.

The acting in The Mummy is great. Tom Cruise is committed to the role and really steals the show whenever he's on screen. (Which is a majority of the time.) Cruise and the recurring side character Chris Vail played by Jake Johnson have great timing which makes sure the few comedic punches in the film land. Russell Crowe is also surprisingly fitting in the movie and his character caught me off guard. If you are well-versed in movie monster lore than you will surely enjoy his scenes. As for the female leads, both are great, although Sofia Boutella really shines in her role, even with what few lines she was given. This isn't to say that Annabelle Wallis is bad in the film, but her character is really insignificant and a majority of her on screen time is spent yelling "NICK". 

 

Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet in The Mummy (2017)

The weakest part of The Mummy is it's writing. As amazing as the action sequences are, the moment the characters start talking it starts to feel unauthentic and forced. Every interaction between characters feel cliche (like the female lead's first action on screen is slapping the male lead and his only reaction is being shocked) and part of a checklist of required beats to hit. However, this isn't any one person's fault...mainly because the movie has six different writers. This is always a bad sign for movies due to the fact that every new writer brings something new to the project. One writer may envision a scene between two characters as romantic, another might use that scene to push the story forward and a third comes in with a list of easter eggs that need to be shoehorned into the story.

This leads to a messy script with a lot of exposition. And that leads me to the next weakest point of the film. The expositions. There are three main exposition scenes in The Mummy which makes the writers feel desperate. As if they suddenly realized that the story doesn't entirely make sense, so they add exposition to push it along. Even worse is that the movie starts off with a long exposition by Dr. Henry Jekyll DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE. For a moment you might be fooled to think he is addressing some character off screen but nope. He is talking directly to you so that you understand the origins of Ahmanet. For how long the movie spends in Egypt with Nick's sudden visions you would think it would just be smarter to create a couple scenes and just show the viewer the story instead of cuts here and there.

In the end, The Mummy is a good action movie to keep you entertained. It has a good cast that is doing it's best to make every scene believable. The film does fall flat in several scenes due to it's messy and unoriginal writing, but above all else movie is FUN and you won't regret watching it once. (But probably no more than that.)