On Oct. 10, 2014, Universal Studios attempted to throw their hat in the Cinematic Universe Game, and attempted to release a monster cinematic universe. Full of Hollywood’s favorite spooks, and things that go bump in the night, their first movie attempt was Dracula Untold. However, that did not perform as the studio had hoped critically. Two years later Universal tries again to kickstart their “Dark Universe” with the newest “The Mummy” movie.
As soon as the movie starts you have a realization. “Hey that’s not Brendan Fraser!” Nope. This Mummy got Tom Cruise. A hero that looks like he could be the romantic interest’s father. Tom Cruise continues to age, and does not look like the 24-old hero anymore which takes you out of the movie. It’s tough to follow their romance when it looks like he should be giving her driving lessons.
The movie has a lot of interesting ideas. Russell Crowe plays the famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the movie universe, and operates a facility that hunts down and studies these famous creatures. This offers a few cool scenes, but can’t save the rest of the movie from it’s lack of structure. Cruise’s character arc doesn’t go through any solid phases, or moments of realization.The character serves as another Cruise action hero. All development is put on hold for scenes with the Mummy antagonist, which serves as another CGI army of darkness to defeat, and doesn’t amount to anything new or interesting.
The newest Mummy may have not been the hit that Universal was hoping for, however future installments of the franchise still offer potential and I am very interested in what they have planned next.
If you’re a fan of paranormal movies, you may enjoy this. I certainly did at parts. However, it doesn’t stand out as a grand entry to a new movie franchise. I give it three Tom Cruise “I-do-my-own-stunts” out of 10.
