Stars Tom Cruise. Sofia Boutella, Ananbelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, and Russell Crowe Directed by Alex Kurtzman Mild Spoilers Ahead The Universal Monsters - a moniker given to a group of creature that have featured throughout the Universal movies since the 1930’s. There have been a couple attempts over the last decade or so to recreate these creature features and they have fallen short of expectations before, be it The Wolfman (2010) with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, or Dracula Untold (2014) with Luke Evans and Dominic Cooper. Other creatures known to feature in this movies include, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Creature from The Black Lagoon. Here, the idea was to create a more comprehensive shared world for these creatures starting with The Mummy (although sharp-eyed viewers will notice a nod to the 1999 version of The Mummy that starred Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, quite likely making that one part of this same world). While the story may seem familiar - a tomb is discovered, a mummy is resurrected, havoc ensues, the mummy is defeated - there are quite a few unique elements introduced into this version. Firstly, it’s set in the present day, away from the dusty age of wonder, mystery and high adventure. Secondly, we have a female mummy (Sofia Boutella) as the main antagonist, which is a rarity… or some attempt at female empowerment or inclusive casting given this day and social age. Third, we have a glimpse of a secondary monster putting in an appearance thanks to the casting of Russell Crowe as literary import, Dr Henry Jekyll. The movie hits the plot points one might expect and there is some excitement to be had. The plot I presented above is pretty much what you get, so everything else comes down to the story and performances, and therein are the problems. This has so much potential, and the 1999 version gave us a rollicking pulpy high adventure flick, even though the origins are in the horror genre. I like that we have a different kind of mummy on the loose, and the slight attempt at imagining something bigger at play, but the plot and the motives don’t come across as needed for clarity. It may start with Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) accidentally uncovering the tomb/prison of this mummy, but then we have Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) who leads the investigation into this mummy. Her motives are really unclear. It’s not like she’s trying to prove herself or her worth as Rachel Weisz’s character in the previous version, clumsily (or charmingly) stumble into the situation. When she finds the tomb, she can identify it’s a prison and recognised all the signs of danger, but still insists (without any logical explanation except that the plot demands it) to evacuate the sarcophagus anyway. She wants to learn about the past or know what’s beyond death, and there’s seemingly some plot idea there about what’s driving her, but it’s never explored. Dr Jekyll also seems a little short-sighted for someone who’s purportedly been around a long time, and Crowe seems to be wheezing his lines most of the time (not too sure why or if it’s artistic choice). Then again, he’s supplying most of the back story and exposition, so it could be the blocks of dialogue he has to deliver at any one time. Sofia Boutella shines as Ahmanet (in the past) and the mummy (in present day), fairing much better than say, Cara Delevingne in Suicide Squad, where playing these barely clad / half-naked powerful sorceresses are concerned. Just one problematic plot point is that Nick has to “give in” to her in order for the curse afflicting him to be fulfilled… makes her come across as some weird stalker girlfriend. The elephant in the room, or the bull in the china shop, is Tom Cruise. This is the kind of movie Cruise has never done before and while it might be admirable for actors to stretch themselves taking roles that would challenge them, Cruise instead seems to be on autopilot, or director Alex Kurtman was glad to have the megastar in his movie that he didn’t try to rein in Cruise enough. There are some moments where Cruise works well as Nick Morton, but when it doesn’t work, it’s incredibly jarring particularly if he has to be perplexed by the situation he’s in (when Jekyll tries to explain the situation with the curse), or try to be charmingly funny. The lines fall really flat (“It’s not me, it’s you.”) and the humour you know is there just doesn’t work. He’s going to get a lot of flack for this one even though he brings his typical verve and energy to the action scenes. He does nail the pathos at the end after the big fight. If anything, Jake Johnson might have been a better lead instead of being Cruise’s funny side-kick. Kurtzman’s direction evokes a little of JJ Abrams’ style and while he can manage the action beats well enough, he seems to have a little problem with the quieter scenes. The major set-pieces work well enough to provide the entertainment factor with a good combination of practical stunts (weightless in the plane, for example) and effects work (mummy fights). There are also a couple of jarring edits making me wonder if they’re censor cuts (unlikely, but possible here) or just some story problems. There’s a combination of up to six people credited with story and screenplay. To be fair, my expectations were high for this one, given that the plan is to bring the Universal Monsters back to the screen, and while i did enjoy the movie for the most part, it was also fairly disappointing in its overall execution. I think of it more as teething problems and hopefully, they’ll learn from the mistakes and improve with the next one. Because, really… there’s always going to be another creature feature. There’s always the need to do something different and try something new. Some times it works, some times it doesn’t. In this case, best to check you brain at the door. Rating: **1/2 /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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