The Mummy (2017)

"It's not an exact science, this business."

"What?  And the business being?"

"Evil, Mr. Morton.  Recognize, contain, examine, destroy."

Nick Morton (Cruise) and Chris Vail (Johnson) are working reconnaissance for the U.S. Army in Iraq.  While on assignment, they stumble onto the tomb of Princess Ahmanet (Boutella).  They are joined by archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Wallis) to remove the sarcophagus and anything else they find before an air strike is set to destroy the area.

On the orders of Colonel Greenway (Vance), they evacuate the area by plane, with the sarcophagus.  Vail is possessed by Ahmanet and is shot.  Moments later the plane is disabled and is set to crash.  Jenny escapes the plane in a parachute, and Nick is the only survivor of the crash.  After the crash, he experiences visions of Ahmanet and is haunted by Vail.  Ahmanet has escaped from the sarcophagus and is regenerating her body.  She is trying to find and kill Nick.

Nick and Jenny escape and are aided by Dr. Henry Jekyll (Crowe).  Jekyll is the head of a group called Prodigium that hunts supernatural threats.  He reveals that Nick has been cursed by Ahmanet and is needed to release pure evil.  Can they stop Ahmanet's plans?


In 2012, Universal Studios announced plans to reboot The Mummy franchise.  In 2014, they revealed that the new Mummy film would launch a shared cinematic universe, "The Dark Universe," to reboot all of the classic Universal monsters.  Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan were hired to develop The Dark Universe, and Kurtzman signed on to direct the first film.

In 1932, Universal Studios released The Mummy with Boris Karloff in the title role.  The film was a success and was reimagined in 1940 with The Mummy's Hand, with Tom Tyler as the new mummy Kharis.  Kharis returned for 3 sequels (The Mummy's Tomb in 1942, The Mummy's Ghost in 1944, and The Mummy's Curse in 1944), with Lon Chaney Jr. taking over the role of Kharis.  In 1955, they made Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, with a new mummy, played by Eddie Parker.  In 1959, Hammer Film Productions released The Mummy with Christopher Lee as the title character.  They made 3 more mummy films (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb in 1964, The Mummy's Shroud in 1967, and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb in 1971), each featuring a new mummy.

The series was remade in 1999, with Stephen Sommers as the director.  His The Mummy, focused on Brendan Fraser's character, instead of the titular mummy (played by Arnold Vosloo).  This mummy is a remake of the 1932 film, with the same character names.  It was a success, and Fraser starred in 2 more mummy films (The Mummy Returns in 2001 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008).

The new "Dark Universe" mummy is a completely original character.  They chose to focus on a female mummy and start a new mythology.  I like the idea of a new, female mummy... it changes the stakes, as you need to pay attention to learn her motivations (while the previous films were well-known and used the same characters / stakes).  This film had the difficult task of creating the new mummy and establishing the franchise... and while I applaud their ambition, neither piece works.

Like the Fraser Mummy films, they chose to focus on the modern characters, specifically Tom Cruise's Nick Morton.  Morton has questionable motives / morals, but works as an action hero.  But Ahmanet, the titular mummy played by Sofia Boutella, is underdeveloped and underused.  She is barely in the film, despite appearing in all promotional materials.  The audience doesn't know much about her, except that she is evil.  She doesn't speak much in the film and barely gets to use her powers / abilities.  It is a huge letdown.  The other characters are fine.  They had some good ideas with Jake Johnson's Vail, and Annabelle Wallis is fine as Jenny.  They wasted the talents of Courtney B. Vance.

The other problem is establishing The Dark Universe.  They had many ideas and wanted to tease the other monsters... but it feels to obvious and overdone.  There is nothing subtle about it.  Russell Crowe is an interesting choice to introduce the franchise.  His Dr. Jekyll will be the glue that holds the franchise together, as his organization Prodigium investigates the monsters.  He eventually reveals his name, as another obvious wink to the audience (will he get a standalone Jekyll/Hyde film?).  They also let him be Hyde, and that transformation worked for me.  He is visibly different and his accent changes, which it is a great idea for the character... but again, was it necessary for this film?

I think they had some great ideas / ambition for this film and wanted to really pique interest for the Dark Universe... but it was too much for one film.  The end result is a muddied Mummy film and a clunky introduction to a potential franchise.  This film was a disappointment at the box office and Kurtzman and Morgan have moved on to other projects.  There are more Dark Universe films planned... but with the departure of the visionaries and the postponed Bride of Frankenstein film, will Universal Studios continue with their Dark Universe?

The Mummy (2017) 110 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for violence, action and scary images, and for some suggestive content and partial nudity
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Tom Cruise as Nick Morton
Annabelle Wallis as Jenny Halsey
Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet
Jake Johnson as Vail
Courtney B. Vance as Colonel Greenway
Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll
Marwan Kenzari as Malik