THE MUMMY 2017
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T55Ir1I7GX4[/video]
I knew the reviews were poor going into this movie, but nothing...
NOTHING... could prepare me for how horribly and embarrassingly
TERRIBLE this movie is!!!!
Tom Cruise who has built an amazing career being charming and charismatic, displays none of those abilities here. His comedic talents appear to be non-existent. He seems to have no idea how to set up, deliver or react to a funny line, scene or situation.
And yes, this is a COMEDY. It is the
EXACT SAME tone as the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies -- light comedy adventure. Except, unlike those well made, well cast, well performed and entertaining original movies,
this movie in NOT FUNNY. Not even remotely funny. Every joke is predictable, poorly executed and falls completely flat. Cruise is essentially playing
the exact same character that Fraser originated (!?!!) with just a different name. Except he lacks Fraser's superior acting chops when is comes to balancing comedy and drama. Honestly, this is easily Cruise's worst performance I have ever watched.
On top of that, Cruise and leading lady Annabelle Wallis have zip, zero, zilch onscreen chemistry. Their romcom banter fails on every imaginable level. You never buy their relationship or see anything that suggests Wallis is Cruise's true love. Thus, you never believe Cruise's character sacrifice in the third act.
Then there is Jake Johnson's side kick character.... uhg! This is the most annoying, useless and shockingly UNFUNNY character I have had to endure in a long time. Brutal to watch.
How much of this disaster is Cruise's fault or writer/director Alex Kutzman's, I dunno, but somebody, somewhere in the studio should have had the good sense to look at the dailies and say "STOP!!!!!!!!".
As the launching tent pole for a new franchise entitled Dark Universe (horrible name Universal!!! sinkaroo!) there is surprisingly no horror or scares or gothic undertones or pathos that one might expect from a property spawned from the Universal Monsters line. This is typical, safe, designed by committee, summer blockbuster action fare. Nothing in this movie is fresh or exciting, every set piece is ripped from some other movie, including other Tom Cruise movies and feels by the numbers. In fact, the amount that is lifted from the original Fraser Mummy trilogy is staggering and makes me wonder why even do a remake? They should have just made a fourth movie and gone with the same ending, as it would have worked better (especially if they could have gotten Weisz back) and played far more tragic in the classic Universal Monster style.
Is there anything good in this movie? Lots of critics cited Russell Crowes' performance as Jekyll/Hyde but I dunno... he adds some gravitas but his scenes with Cruise are so bad (mostly because of Cruise's acting choices) that it quickly erodes away anything positive he may have brought to the table.
The soundtrack is functional. The FX are good, what you would expect for this type of movie. Sofia Boutella as the female Mummy was only interesting because it was different, but she brought nothing memorable to the role. The general unifying concept for the Dark Universe has potential. But they should have gone for a more serious, smaller midsize budget route with more emphasis on dark thriller than mindless, endless spectacle.
If you have been on the fence about this and wondering if you should check it out,
skip it. Do yourself a favour, and go rewatch Brendan Fraser's Mummy trilogy (yes, even Dragon Emperor--it is a million times better than this dreck). Or better yet, go watch the original Universal Monsters movies and relive the glory of Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, the Wolfman and yes, the Mummy.
I will be generous, and give this latest Mummy incarnation 3 out of 10.
Now excuse me, I need to shower and scrape this stink off of me.