Where to watch The Mummy
1 1/2 Stars
Tom Cruise presides over this 2017 reboot of the much re-made film that originated with Boris Karloff nearly 100 years ago. This very modern retelling is laced with cutting edge special effects, stunts, and humor, but almost none of it works. The Mummy doesn’t have a real point other than setting up the “Dark Universe” for Universal Studios, and its inclusion of Dr. Jekeyll (Russell Crowe) provides a glimpse into the planned spin-offs. However, it will take a much better movie to redirect the course of this “series” if audience’s goodwill haven’t been hampered with this debacle.
Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) is a near-do-well former sergeant, whose a bit of a rogue and a thief as we meet him searching for antiquities in the deserts of Iraq. He stumbles upon the resting place of a mysterious sarcophagus containing the possessed remains of the ancient Egyptian princess, Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). Nick and his partner (Jake Johnson) must battle the unearthed evil spirit before she tears apart modern-day London. Morton is aided by the wisdom of Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) and Jennifer Halsey (Annabella Wallis), a beautiful, but stubborn archeologist who once was romantically linked to Nick. Halsey works under the umbrella of a monster-hunting organization known as Prodigium.
I’m a Tom Cruise fan. I’ve championed the actor since the days of Top Gun. He looks phenomenal at 54 years of age, his physique and facial features appear to be ageless. But this is two below average movies in a row from the mega-star. I thought that Jack Reacher: Never Look Back was the bottom of the barrel for Cruise, but The Mummy now holds the dubious distinction of occupying the low point in Cruise’s filmography. Am I being too hard on the picture? Maybe. But remember Tom Cruise’s films use to feel like they had a stamp of quality, as if the material had been vetted and refined to produce the best product possible. Today, the Cruise brand hangs in the balance. I’ll follow this actor on any cinematic journey he takes, but defending his film choices has become a chore. Sorry, Tom. The Mummy is a bomb.
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Stars: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe