I am a fan of the original series of monster movies made by Universal Studios back in the 1930s and 40s. The original run of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man set a new benchmark in horror and all are classics of the genre.
The slew of sequels that followed were mostly of deteriorating quality, but were always fun, making the most of their limited budgets. So, when a new ‘Dark Universe’ of films were announced, I had mixed feelings. I was pleased to see the iconic creatures would be back on-screen but was concerned that we were into a new ‘cinematic universe’ like the ones served up in the ghastly Marvel and DC films.
The Mummy is the first in this new series, now that the dreadful Dracula Untold has been removed from it. At first, I was very pleased with what I was seeing as it capitalised on the advantages it has on the 1932 Boris Karloff flick. The first 45 minutes are action packed, with great sequences involving uncovering the tomb, racing against time with an incoming sandstorm and then a thrilling aircraft ride with the sarcophagus on board.
All of the special effects were superbly deployed and there was much more comic relief than in the serious original film, similar to what was evident in the underrated sequel, The Mummy’s Hand from 1940. The relationship between Tom Cruise and Jake Johnson as Nick and Chris seemed promising and it was interesting that Cruise’s character, someone willing rob and destroy archaeologically important sites, was quite so unlikable. The stunning Annabelle Wallis, as Jenny, the scientist sent to examine their find was also shaping up to be a good leading lady.
It was hugely disappointing then, that after another great action sequence when Nick and Jenny escape from the re-animated corpse, Ahmanet, (Sofia Boutella) and they arrive at the underground lair run by Russell Crowe, things start to deteriorate rapidly. The first problem is that the pace slows dramatically. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing as the original version was stately, but it had none of the creepiness and menace of the earlier film.
It also becomes unnecessarily complicated, throwing crusading knights into the mixture, and revealing Crowe’s character to be Dr Jekyll. The added touch of making Nick possessed by Ahmanet did not work and the storyline about the knife with the embedded jewel and what they need to do with it in order to destroy Ahmanet and save Nick became very confusing.
The actions scenes towards the end of the film do not have the impact of the ones at the start, and the ending, setting up sequels and the franchise as a whole felt extremely tired and very predictable.
A big missed opportunity, worth seeing for the first act only and for Wallis’ engaging performance only.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10