The Mummy (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD)

Blu-Ray Reviews | Sep 12th, 2017

The Mummy
Image used with permission for review purposes.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance
Written By: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman
Directed By: Alex Kurtzman
Studio: Universal Pictures
Buy On Amazon.com

The latest unnecessary reboot is The Mummy, which was just a big misfire from start to finish. This version that was supposed to start a “Dark Universe” gets off to a rocky start. While the action is good, this movie could have been A LOT better.

The Mummy is about an ancient Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) who awakens in modern times to fulfill her destiny. Sgt. Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and his buddy Corporal Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are on a mission for some archifacts and end up discovering the tomb of Ahmanet. Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), an archaeologist who Nick had a thing with shows up to investigate the tomb and they bring back the sarcophagus on an airplane back to London. Then stuff hits the fan…

I had no expectations for the Mummy since the trailers didn’t sell it very well. The movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be but that’s not saying much. I’m not sure where the blame can be pointed at for this, the writers or directors or actors? All of the above? The script and story weren’t strong, and a bit complex and confusing. At least I could follow the The Mummy from the 90s. I loved that movie and the not-as-good sequel The Mummy Returns so I was a bit annoyed they were remaking this to begin with.

Tom Cruise just didn’t really fit in this, at all. He tried really hard to be charming and funny but it just didn’t work. I usually don’t mind Tom Cruise in some movies but this wasn’t his best work. I appreciate that he always gives 100 percent on doing his own stunts and action, but even that can’t help that this script was bad. Jake Johnson was funny in parts, and then in other parts was annoying (usually after the first half hour). I don’t think it was his fault though, it was just the confusing direction they were trying to go with him. The mummy princess by Sofia Boutella wasn’t memorable and it felt like Russell Crowe was just thrown into this as Dr. Henry Jekyll. It was just confusing and felt forced. It didn’t make sense he was there and felt like he was just there to set up some franchise of monster movies. This isn’t Marvel, that’s for sure. It’s a shame because these classic monsters deserve better movies. About the only positive I’ll give is the special effects were pretty good, especially the transforming of the mummy soldiers. That kiss and the rapid mummification were a bit frightening. If only the rest of the movie was decent.

There are plenty of extras to watch if you enjoyed the movie and want to see how things were done. You can see how they filmed that airplane/G Force scene, Tom Cruise doing his own stunts, some deleted scenes, a conversation with director Alex Kurtzman and Tom Cruise. There was also some smaller featurettes that were about 6 minutes long.

While there was some enjoyable parts, this movie is just poorly written, acted and not very good. Tom Cruise was miscast in this, and I think by him starring in this hurt the movie. All this movie does is make me want to go back and watch The Mummy and Mummy Returns. I wish the special effects for this were in older movies and then I’d be happy. Some people might like this, I just got bored with it early on.

Features

Deleted & Extended Scenes
Cruise & Kurtzman: A Conversation Rooted in Reality
Life in Zero-G: Creating the Plane Crash
Meet Ahmanet
Cruise in Action Becoming Jekyll and Hyde
Choreographed Chaos Nick Morton: In Search of a Soul
Ahmanet Reborn Animated Graphic Novel
Feature Commentary

Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
English DTS-HD MA 7.1

Video
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color

Bottom Line: For a franchise starter, this is pretty mediocre
Running Time: 220 mins
Rating: PG-13
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:

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