"The Mummy" (2017) Movie Review

    Universal Studios released “Dracula Untold” a few years back.  That film was meant to be tha start of a new Universal Studios Monsters shared universe.  When that film didn’t perform the way they hoped, the studio then announced Tom Cruise was going to head a new Mummy reboot which would now be the official launch of their “Dark Universe”.  The studio was counting on the Mummy brand and the star power of Tom Cruise to knock their new Mummy film out of the park.

    The main problem is that the film didn’t need to be rebooted.  The Brendan Fraser films weren’t that old and still fondly liked by many movie goers.  Plus Tom Cruise doesn’t have the domestic star power he once had.  Now this doesn’t necessarily effect the movie’s quality, but it shows how out of touch their marketing division was.  Plus, I don't think handing the keys of a huge franchise over to an unproven director like Alex Kurtzman was wise.  Kurtzman is best known as a screenwriter and has co-written hits like "Star Trek" with Roberto Orci.

    “The Mummy” is basically a typical Tom Cruise action film with some mummies thrown in.  The horror elements are almost non existent.  Now, the Stephen Sommers “Mummy” movies also focused on action but remembered it was based on a horror film and included some intended frights. 

    Setting the movie in the present also took away some of the unique qualities of the other films.  I can’t help but think this was for budgetary reasons or the writers were out of touch.  “The Mummy” works best set in the past because it’s easier to suspend your disbelief when modern technology isn’t involved.

    The Mummy is played by Sofia Boutella this time around.  Boutella is one of the few highlights of the film. I don’t like when films change genders of characters as part of a gimmick, but Boutella enhances the film and their is reasoning behind the gender swap.
    The saddest part is this was an unnecessary reboot to a franchise that could otherwise use some refreshing.  “The Shape of the Water” was the “Creature From the Black Lagoon” that Universal should have made.  “The Mummy” may have permanently ruined the Dark Universe but maybe like these monsters, it’s better if it stays dead, at least for now.

Grade: D

“The Mummy Returns” Movie Review

    I was a big fan of the Stephen Sommers helmed remake of “The Mummy” so I was completely on board to see the sequel when it was announced.  I didn’t know how they could make the sequel work but I was open to be surprised.  Thankfully, when I left the theater of “The Mummy Returns”, I remember really enjoying reuniting with the characters.

    “The Mummy Returns” is an overall fun and crazy film which probably shouldn’t work but somehow does.  The film manages to bring most of the returning cast together again fairly quickly and fairly early into the film.  The plot revolves around Rick and Evelyn O’Connell’s son Alex accidentally putting on the bracelet of Anubis which will end up killing him in seven days unless he returns the bracelet to the Scorpion King’s pyramid.  Along the way he is captured by Imhotep, the mummy from the first film, who is looking to capture the power of the Scorpion King for himself.
    Like the first film, most of the sequel’s charm comes from it’s cast.  Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz return to lead the cast and the two have a great unlikely chemistry.  The two really seem comfortable with each other and it helps us invest in their adventures.  Other casts members to return include John Hannah, Oded Fehr, and Arnold Vosloo who all add a little more levels to their characters in this film.  Of course this film is famous for being the big budget debut of WWE superstar The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) in a film.  Dwayne Johnson basically had a glorified cameo in the film but he had a presence that was hard to ignore even in his cameo.
    Now, I want to discuss one of the main problems with the film, The Scorpion King himself.  The Scorpion King was a great concept and I loved the idea of creating a new Universal Studio monster for a new era.  There was so much promise there and the opening scenes featuring The Rock were undeniably cool.  Then we got to the Scorpion King in the final act.  Why?  Who cleared that terrible cgi?  When the Scorpion King arrives looking like something straight out of a PlayStation 2 game, it completely takes you out of an otherwise solid movie.  A movie that was already close to being as good or better than the previous film.  Why couldn’t Dwayne Johnson come out as The Scorpion King possessing Superman like strength?  It would have worked a lot better than the cgi nightmare we got.  Plus, while I enjoyed The Scorpion King character in his solo film outing, Universal ended up watering down the character and wasting him in tiresome direct to video films.
    So, I found the film to be really fun overall.  It built on the first movie really well and had a lot of things going for it.  Unfortunately, it also had massive wasted potential with the character of the Scorpion King.  That doesn’t kill the movie for me, but it may be too much for others.

Grade: B