Wrap it up.

Directed by Alex Kurtzman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella

Now some of you may be surprised to know I've never seen the original Mummy movies. I've heard they're a whopping great time, and they're very enjoyable to certain extents. I could have gone back and watched them before seeing this, but I knew this was very different and I wanted a fresh mindset going into what will be the first movie in Universal's 'Dark Universe.' But having now seen it, I don't think it would have effected my opinion at all, because The Mummy is probably the worst movie I've seen so far this year. In short, I imagine Brenden Fraser is happy to know that his Mummy movies still rule the roost.

The film sets up this 'Dark Universe' with the introduction of Princess Ahmanet (Boutella), who embraces the dark lord Set and becomes a demon when her father's second wife disrupts her birthright with a new son for the throne. She is mummified, and discovered in present day by theif Nick Morton (Cruise) and archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Wallis). When Ahmanet breaks free and begins to restore her power and having cursed Morton, he and Halsey meet Henry Jekyll (Crowe) and his secret society that aim in stopping the Mummy and breaking Morton's curse, in whatever way possible.

Let me get the good stuff out of the way first, and don't worry there's hardly any of it. The first being that Crowe's preferences of both Jekyll and Hyde is very enjoyable and entertaining, the only parts I liked were when he was on screen, and one scene in particular is a highlight. I have to compliment the special effects team for not making the film look as bad with CGI as most films do nowadays. The colour palette works well but I think that's to be expected with a 'Dark Universe,' and it's not really a massive highlight. 

The acting is horrendous, especially from Wallis, who plays the most uninspired and boring character I've seen this year. She's just so uninteresting and anytime she wasn't on screen I ever so slightly enjoyed myself more. Cruise's performance isn't as bad, but he looks very disinterested. If you were expecting a typical Tom Cruise action movie, this isn't the film for you in the slightest. He overacts in some places, then underacts in others. I couldn't pin point whether he cared or not, and as well as being a truly unlikeable character with Morton, I wasn't convinced. Other characters such as Jake Johnson's Vail are ok, but feel very unneeded and feel shoehorned for comic value. Even with that in mind, the comedy misses every time. That's a lot to do with the terrible screenplay, as the dialogue is pretty damn awful, some of the worst I've witnessed in a good while.

The Mummy herself is very Enchantress from Suicide Squad, and while she can be entertaining at times, she feels silly and not so evil or scary when revealed. I felt like she was revealed too early on and I felt like they could have enhanced the horror a little bit with her. Speaking of, the horror is severely lacking. I know this isn't supposed to be a horror, but I was expecting a little bit at least especially after seeing the trailers. It resorts with basic jump-scares and ultimately doesn't get anymore better. The pacing is too quick, we never get a chance to immerse ourselves in what's going on because things just happen and they often feel badly edited in or just pointless in the first place. Other than Jekyll's introduction and some of his scenes, the film is way too fast and annoying.

And I think in the end, that's where the film falls. Being written by such a large group of people with different ideas and thoughts make this film apparent that it doesn't know what it wants to be in the first place. It tries to do a lot but really sucks being this new edgy take on the franchise. It turns into a cliched mess at the end - which sets up the rest of these monster movies. Essentially, if you do see this, you're watching a trailer for the rest of the movies with Tom Cruise's name plastered all over it. And he's not even the thing that makes this film likeable. It's a shame really, this one should have hyped us for the future of this ambitious universe - but ultimately it's a poorly written, acted and rushed film that doesn't make me hate it, I'm just disappointed in it.

The Good

- Russell Crowe

The Bad

- The acting (Wallis and Cruise in particular)

- Writing and dialogue

- Pacing, a rushed mess

- The Mummy herself 

- Cliched, cringe-worthy and not scary

- Comedy is forced and not funny

- The film doesn't even know what it wants to be

3/10