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'The Mummy' (2017) | Blockbuster hit or blundering miss?



'The Mummy' tells the story of an ancient princess who's awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing forth terrors that defy human comprehension.


It seems it is common place now to see multiple films tied together in supposed 'universes' as with Marvel, and many of M. Night Shyamalan's films, which saturate the market today. Universal has attempted to follow suite, their attempts including the Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins film 'The Wolfman' in 2010, the Luke Evans starred 'Dracula Untold' alongside Dominic Cooper, and now 'The Mummy' reboot. With names like Johnny Depp and Javier garden being thrown into the mix, it's not hard to find that Universal is pulling all the strings to make this work, but it just hasn't worked thus far. For a film that was expected to kick off Universal Studios' Dark Universe, 'The Mummy' was considered by many to be utterly disappointing.



It's been nearly twenty years since the Brendan Fraser film graced our screens. It was a brilliant, over-the-top, cheeseball of a movie that was definitely of its time; however, the difference between this Tom Cruise incarnation and the Fraser helmed trilogy is that Cruise is far from his peak, hardly as charismatic as he once used to be, and at times, reminiscent of his Ethan Hunt role from the 'Mission: Impossible' series.


Cruise is just Cruise in this film, running from evil with an expression of intensity that has become his signature demeanour in his films of late. Meanwhile, an attractive (often) blonde woman half his age will run around looking pretty, barely assisting Cruise's hero, besides playing the part of the romantic interest.



The film takes itself way too seriously and struggles to have fun at the same time. Though the Fraser trilogy suffers from the same discrepancy, its films sway in the opposite direction, edging towards childish. The 2017 film reboot is just plain wrong, and fails to gain the audience's interest early on.


Even with the titular character of 'The Mummy' played by the amazing Sofia Boutella ('Kingsman: The Secret Service', 'Star Trek: Beyond'), her desire to possess Cruise's character so they can reign together as King and Queen really makes the viewer question how the storyline came about: why did actors Cruise, Boutella, and Russell Crowe agree to the project in the first place? How did three screenwriters and three 'screen story by' writers came up with such a disappointment? It's also a shame, however, that Boutella had very little to do because if given the chance, she could've become more of a threatening presence.



Amongst the writers, there are the ever experienced David Koepp, responsible for hits such as 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'Mission: Impossible' (1996), and 'Spider-Man' (2002); Christopher McQuarrie, responsible for the writing of 'The Usual Suspects' (1995); 'Valkyrie' (2008), 'Edge of Tomorrow' (2014), and 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' (2015). With credits like these, it makes us question what went wrong? These films were all well received.


Even with director David Kurtzman, responsible for the screenplays of 'The Legend of Zorro' (2005), 'Star Trek' (2009) and its sequel 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' (2013), there was no saving this film. Kurtzman's directing credits are limited, with only a single feature film credit previous to this film, and it really shows'. It felt like he was haphazardly throwing the film together, not really sure what he should be doing. As a result, it makes the film unbelievable.



The characters aren't memorable, and the writing falls into traps that any screenwriter should know to avoid - they tell more than they show with Crowe's Dr. Jekyll, who becomes more of an expository character than anything else.


The dialogue was stilted and strange, with the actors struggling to do their best with poor direction and a weak script.


'The Mummy' isn't one of those films you love to hate. In fact, it leaves the viewer apathetic. The USD$125million film doesn't seem to know what it's trying to be, despite chasing the success of the original franchise. It is regrettably dull in comparison.


But, if you'd like to make up your own mind, 'The Mummy' is in cinemas everywhere now.


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