The Mummy 2017 (Movie Review)

(This review will contain spoilers.)

Summary:

Though safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension.

Main Cast: Tom Cruise (Nick Morton), Sofia Boutella (Ahmanet), Annabelle Wallis (Jenny Halsey) and Russell Crowe (Dr. Henry Jekyll).

I will say that for the first 10 minutes of the movie they really didn't structure the scenes of the movie well or try to keep a more mysterious air as well. In all honesty, it feels like they just put a few disjointed scenes together. There truly was no flow to the introduction of this movie. First scene we see crusaders in England 1277 AD and then transitions to the same area but in modern day time. Then shows the connection of the second crusade and Egypt. Furthermore, we see Ahmanet's story on how she was meant to become the next Pharaoh but because her father had a son she lost her position as heir to the throne. Then we see that she made a pact with Set the God of Death but wasn't able to consummate the pact. See? WAY too much information given within the first 10 minutes. Egypt is rich with so much history that if you are making a movie you need to slowly unravel the history so as to not shock your audience with the information overload. 

I truly believe that Ahmanet's history should have been given to us throughout the movie and not all at once in the beginning.A movie definitely loses its edge when revealing the history of the antagonist too early on. Some movies have done it with success such as; The original Mummy but it was fluid and coherent. This movie? Not so much. It's quite lacking in this department. 

I am quite well versed when it comes to Ancient Egypt. and their burial ceremonies as well. I've studied Ancient History for years which is why I was surprised that in the movie they said that liquid mercury is used to weaken evil spirits. Now I am not saying that mercury is never used because mercury when found in tombs and burials actually represents immortality, achieving immortality and even the river of mercury symbolizes the underworld. But as far as being used to weaken evil spirits? Never heard of that before. So I really doubt that it's actually a ritual used. 

The movie itself had a very good concept but it wasn't actualized which was really disappointing. It was phenomenal to finally see a female antagonist who had the power and the overwhelming presence. Plus the back story and we could've had an amazing movie to pass on The Mummy legacy to but the ending and subsequentially two characters was the downfall to this movie. 

Both the characters of Nick and Jenny I personally found brought this movie to it's knees. A lot of the times an antagonist is also as good as their counter parts. Nick was supposed to be the protagonist of this movie. And essentially, he is supposed to be able to carry this movie franchise if ever a second movie is produced. I'm sorry to say this but this character and the actor sucked so much in this movie. It wasn't a good fit at all. Studios need to stop believing that dropping Tom Cruise in a movie is going to make the movie hundred times better because that was not the case for this one. 

What I truly found lacking is that there were not many locations. There were primarily three big locations. The underground location where they found the hidden Crusaders tombs, the site where the aircraft crashed including the little church area and Dr. Jekyll's underground containment area for Ahmanet. See? And all of these locations had very similar features. It's truly disappointing because the original Mummy movies used several different Egyptian locations. I can certainly say without hesitation that if more locations were included it would've changed the whole feel of the movie. Because all in all, all these locations made the movie look really underdeveloped. 

But one thing overall really pissed me off as a audience member and as a writer. And that is towards the end of the movie where Nick became possessed with Set's powers and somehow his feelings towards Jenny gave him the strength to overcome the dark powers to kill Ahmanet and bring Jenny back to life. Are you really going to try to sell me this bullshit of love conquers all? This isn't a romantic comedy! If you are trying to sell that this movie has terrors beyond human comprehension love shouldn't be the freaking resolution. Just the ending single-handedly ruined the movie. The script alone should have ended in the trash. It would've saved everyone's time and money. 

On a side note I really like the intensity of Dr. Jekyll. I feel as though this character can be the lead for more Mummy movies if the studio allows for more movies to be produced. I did in fact read that Universal wanted this movie to set up a new movie franchise of monsters called Dark Universe which would include more Mummy movies, Frankenstein and Dracula etc. Which quite frankly it would be smart of them to do and reboot a bunch of classics that they have already produced with a more modern twist to it. Although, this Mummy movie was not a huge blockbuster hit the whole concept of a Dark Universe would be phenomenal if it is done correctly. Additionally, the good Dr. Jekyll has the whole Dr.Jekyll Mr. Hyde thing going on which can also be an attribution of this new cinematic universe. We saw in the movie he needed a serum to prevent himself from changing. Into what? Very good question. I kind of want another movie produced just to see this character's history and to also find out what exactly is his prognosis. 

Rating:

I am going to give this movie 2 stars out of 5. The sole reason that this movie isn't getting a 1 start rating is for the character of Ahmanet and for Sofia Boutella who portrayed her in such a phenomenal manner. How pathetic is it that one of the biggest stars in this movie is the main reason for such a piss poor rating. Cruise sucked in this movie and should never have been casted let alone having this script produced into a movie. And then add in a stupid ending with little to no locations and it's a shit show. This movie had so much potential but it was truly disappointing and is so far away from ever picking up the legacy from the original Mummy movies.