The Mummy

A bit of horror, a bit of humor, always adventure. I liked The Mummy very much, and I was quite surprised, because I really like the original 1932 film and this newer version as well. It's a very entertaining spectacle with many imaginative scenes (that doesn't mean, of course, that something similar has never been done before), pleasantly quick but not frantic momentum, a sympathetic cast, and the bombastic music of Brian Tyler. The non-forgettable finale gave me similar joy as the zombie crusaders. And I didn't expect to ever see Tom Cruise in a “girl in trouble" role. (06/16/2017)

It's a real shame about this new Dark Universe attempt. It's always nice when a classic gets a new coat of paint so that even the youngest generation can enjoy a new take on it and discover the original at the same time. But this is where it all ended prematurely. Genre-wise it's an unbalanced mess and the whole thing feels terribly confident, and no alternative admits that The Mummy should be a solitary film. But unfortunately, it is, and in retrospect, the aftertaste of the unfulfilled fragment remains. Moreover, Tom Cruise is no longer the rascal he would probably like to remain until his death. Annabelle Wallis, the queen of historical series (The Tudors, Peaky Blinders, and Pan Am), didn't particularly impress me either. Sofia Boutella and Russell Crowe are slightly better, but it's not enough. I was hoping the classic duo of Kurtzman & Orci were enough for it to be great, but Hercules and Zorro were more successful. (11/29/2019)

Actually, it's good. The Mummy has its flaws, but Tom Cruise's charisma, the fast pace and the effort to introduce a new world for two hours easily entertains. The opening is reminiscent of Indy or the “Uncharted” games, the horror interludes work surprisingly well, and at times The Mummy straddles the line between PG-13 and R-rated. You probably won't be downright scared, but saying it’s horror adventure is not an exaggeration. There's more or less always something going on, and once they stop trying for funny interludes, it really paces just as you'd expect and hope after the trailers. In the end, it's a bit of a bummer that while The Mummy is a proper adventure flick, it unfortunately doesn't offer any scenes that you'll be excitedly describing to your friends and sending them to the cinema. As the start of a potentially interesting cinematic universe, however, it works without the slightest problem, and I'll happily be there next time. (06/11/2017)

All the ingredients you need for an adventurous tale are abundantly present here. Beautiful locations, a stunning damsel in distress, a courageous hero who goes to great lengths, and a mysterious tale as the central theme. But what's the point when there is a desperate lack of substance and balance? Nick is too arrogant in the beginning and then unbelievably noble as time goes on. Ahmanet spends most of her time in dried-up form, so there is nothing specific to fear, and Vail, the joking friend, is pure evil with his boisterous approach. The biggest joy is the fact that Russell Crowe didn't just drop in for a minute, but it is truly disappointing to find out that perhaps every other line was written by a different screenwriter, turning a potential blockbuster into almost a self-parody. I don't want to do a disservice to The Mummy, as I was mildly entertained at times, but its perplexing genre inconsistency, strangely anticlimactic epilogue, and absence of any new idea, where the only adrenaline moment is the airplane crash shown in the trailers, left me feeling frustrated just a few hours after watching it. (06/08/2017)

I'm probably too nostalgic for the original Mummy films with Fraser and as such I found this version with Cruise to be a dreadful bore, since I associate The Mummy with good gags and Tom with better action. The humor is almost absent (hints of strained jokes) and for how serious it pretends to be, half the film can’t even be taken completely seriously. I didn't even like the idea of using Crowe's character to possibly expand The Mummy into the more extensive fantasies of unrelated realms. After a few days, the film literally disappeared from my mind. (08/30/2022)