The Mummy (2017)

After the masses of bad reviews following the release of The Mummy, Universal’s first instalment to its Dark Universe series… I really was not looking forward to watching this film. I mean we’d seen the trailers for months, and I’d begun to just get sick of seeing anything to do with this film, bit the bullet and caught a showing.

The story is what you’d expect from what we’ve already been given, but it is really nicely set out right at the beginning of the film, because we don't really know much about Ahmanet’s (Sophia Boutella) character, or history. So the film was really set up well, and honestly, the story just went downhill from there. Considering the film is called The Mummy, suggesting it is likely to be about a mummy, it’s almost quite the opposite. The main theme of this film was lost in some parts of he film, and it wasn’t so much a film about the villain, or the main character of the film it was more of a series of events surrounding the leading actor.

This was a problem for a couple of reasons. For starters, I’m not a massive fan of Tom Cruise anyway, and I know that isn't a popular opinion, and I cant always justify my reason for that statement, but I just don't always quite connect with him as an actor. This was something that i really noticed in this film, I just didn't quite understand what he was trying to do with his character. Secondly, it was a problem because its The Mummy! We want more of the Mummy! The rest of the cast really were nothing to write home about, I feel horrible saying it, but - they did the job but the actors did not stand out as the new ‘someone to watch’, because they starred in this film.

The actual film itself was really quite messy in parts, and I found myself sat there feeling exhausted, because it was pure on screen chaos. We jumped from one dilemma to the next, without much transition, or in some cases closure. It felt like during filming they were like RIGHT, WE NEED A BUNCH OF DISASTER, EDITING TEAM… SMUSH IT ALL IN. The result was not a positive one, and ended up with the film not only being a bit all over the place, but a little bit too long. It really felt like it was 2 hours long.



Not all was bad though, there were some interesting bits of action that I hadn't expected, and a lot of Cruise falling of buildings, dodging explosions and showing us some new creatures, which did on occasion look different to most others that we have seen before. The comedy however, was truly awful, corny, and eye-roll worthy. When i wasn’t that, it was jus funny because some scenes almost ripped off Shaun of the Dead… Which is great, if you’re watching Shaun of the Dead.

Honestly, this film for me was a hot mess, and like myself, I wouldn't rush to see it. It’s not the worst film by all means, but is it better than the 1999 original? No, of course not. Is it worth buying? No. Is it even worth recommending? Probably not. For a 2 hour film there is not a lot to say that isn't really mean, but I was no more impressed with this after watching than I was before release.

4/10. Sorry Cruise, I still won’t be joining a fan club.

CINEMATES - S