The Mummy (2017)

Directed by: Alex Kurtzman | 110 minutes | action, adventure, fantasy, thriller | Actors: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari, Simon Atherton, Stephen Thompson, James Arama, Matthew Wilkas, Sohm Kapila, Javier Botet

Universal Studios was known for its successful horror and science fiction films in the period between 1920 and 1960. It all started with ‘The Hunchback of the Notre Dame’ (1923) and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1925), ‘silent’ films with Lon Chaney Jr. in the lead. With the advent of the sound film, the popularity of the ‘Universal Monsters’ rose to unprecedented heights. From creeps like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon, complete franchises have appeared and the film series didn’t just make Chaney Jr. but also major stars of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, among others. Today, these films have the status of cult classics. Various remakes have appeared since the heyday of the Universal Monsters. Perhaps the most famous – but certainly not the best – example of this is ‘The Mummy’ (1999) starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. After two sequels (in 2001 and 2008), the cake seemed to be over, but in 2017 there was suddenly a new remake of ‘The Mummy’.

In addition, with the launch of this film, Universal revealed that it will be reviving its ‘Monsters’ of yesteryear to create a dark movie universe that has unsurprisingly been dubbed the ‘Dark Universe’. The complete sample catalog gets a makeover using the most modern techniques; Scripts are already underway for five titles, producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan have also linked their names to four other titles. It is for Kurtzman (who is on the role as a director for ‘The Mummy’, but also as a producer and co-wrote the screenplay) hopes that he can realize all those ambitions. ‘The Mummy’ is not a very good calling card for the resurrection of the Universal Monsters. Kurtzman was able to land the necessary A-stars (Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe), but it seems that he had to make considerable concessions to do so. According to entertainment magazine and website Variety, Cruise had a big finger in the pie. For example, he wanted (final) control over the script and editing and gave the relatively inexperienced Kurtzman directions for directing. Angry tongues also claim that he magnified his own role, to the detriment of his main co-star, Sofia Boutella…

‘The Mummy’ has therefore become the ‘big Tom Cruise show’, while it is Boutella who plays the most interesting role. As Princess Ahmanet, she was first in line to the throne in ancient Egypt, but was passed over. In revenge, she killed her father and his family and resurrected the evil god Set. An act that could not go unpunished: Ahmanet was cursed for eternity and buried alive, until centuries later when US Army officer Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) accidentally frees her and turns into the evil mummy from the title and literally sucks the life out of everyone who crosses her path. Meanwhile, Morton messes with naive archaeologist Jennifer Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), has a laugh with his buddy Chris (Jake Johnson) and plays the hero. Nothing else than what he does as Ethan Hunt in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series. Russell Crowe also shows up, as the brilliant scientist Dr. Henry Jekyll (!), who runs an organization dedicated to tracking and defusing monsters. And yes, if he doesn’t regularly inject himself with a serum, he turns into his evil alter-ego Mr. Edward Hyde. Jekyll’s organization should become the common thread in Universal’s ‘Dark Universe’. ‘Our’ Marwan Kenzari can be seen in a bit part as Jekyll’s head of security.

No fewer than six names are listed with a scriptwriter credit – including Christopher McQuarrie, who won an Oscar for ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995), David Koepp (the man behind ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993), ‘Mission: Impossible’ ( 1996) and ‘Spider-Man’ (2002)) and Jenny Lumet (daughter of acclaimed director Sidney Lumet), who debuted in 2008 with ‘Rachel Getting Married’. So many different writers usually don’t do a movie well. We see that with ‘The Mummy’ too. It’s a mishmash of styles and genres and shoots in all directions. The tone is also out of balance; Nick’s light-hearted plot lines with love-interest Jennifer and his quasi-funny one-two with Chris contrast too strongly with Ahmanet’s mystical, enigmatic life story and the gloomy atmosphere around the mummy. Tom Cruise plays the hero and adventurer without too much effort and even when his character gets in trouble with himself (we won’t spoil it!), he freewheels through the film. Kurtzman is too inexperienced as a director to make his mark and unable to get anything extra out of his actors. He also does not distinguish himself visually. A messy, wafer-thin story that doesn’t come out well and actors that barely impress (perhaps after Boutella); didn’t we see that in 1999’s ‘The Mummy’? Indeed. That adventure film with Brendan Fraser didn’t take itself too seriously, which made it a no-brainer, but a no-brainer that looked pleasantly away. This twenty-first century version is so pretentious that we are eagerly awaiting the next in the ‘Dark Universe’ series of films!