Universal Pictures has a great deal riding on Alex
Kurtzman’s The Mummy. Having witnessed
the global success of Marvel Films interconnected superhero movies; the powers
that be at the studio have approved a series of crossover films featuring their
stable of monster characters, to be known as the Dark Universe. Johnny Depp
is on board to play the Invisible Man and Oscar-winner Javier Bardem is set to
play Frankenstein’s Monster, while Angelina Jolie and Dwayne Johnson are
rumored to in the running for the roles of the Bride of Frankenstein and the
Wolfman, respectively. What with this
roster of A-List stars as well as Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe’s participation
in The Mummy, it’s obvious that Universal is going for broke on this venture.
Whether any of these other movies are made is dependent on
the success of this new entry, and while there’s room for some improvement,
Kurtzman delivers an entertaining beginning for this Monster-verse. Smart, self-aware and fun, this is a vast
improvement over the schizophrenic Brendan Fraser features. No, this is an ambitious, world-building
undertaking that, while it buckles at times under the weight of its own
ambitions, succeeds in laying a firm foundation for creature features to come.
As the only child of the Pharaoh Menehptre, Princess Ahmanet
(Sofia Butella) longs to rule Egypt after her father’s passing. However, when he takes another wife, who
gives birth to a son, she sees her line to succession hopelessly blocked. Intent on seizing power, she makes a pact
with the God of Death Set, vowing to find a human body he can use to walk the
Earth, in exchange for supernatural power and the will to kill the pharaoh and
his offspring. She succeeds in doing
this but is stopped short from finding Set a suitable host, instead sentenced
to be mummified and buried alive in a tomb thousands of miles from her
homeland.
Jump forward a thousand years and we meet one Nick Morton
(Tom Cruise) and his partner Chris Vail (Joshua Johnson), mercenaries who seek
ancient antiquities to sell on the black market. They inadvertently stumble upon a myriad of
valuable trinkets when they discover Ahmanet’s tomb. Investigating it with the help of
archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), the trio comes to realize that
this isn’t a crypt but rather a prison meant to contain the malevolent princess
for all eternity. Morton’s greed gets
the best of him, he opens the tomb and that’s just the beginning of his
troubles.
The script by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie & Dylan
Kussman effectively updates the origin story from the 1932 original, giving the
creature additional powers, which makes Ahmanet a formidable foe. Her kiss sucks the life out of the living and
turns them into undead who do her bidding while her ability to control certain
elements in nature holds her in good stead.
Butella is very good in the role.
While given little in the way of character development to work with, she
nonetheless manages a sense of strength as well as sex appeal as she lays waste
to London. That we sympathize with her
at times is an unexpected bonus.
Cruise effectively plays against type here as his Morton is
a selfish, arrogant, none-to-bright hero who has no problem leaving a damsel in
distress (one of the film’s funniest moments) when the chips are down. His transformation to reluctant savior is
convincing and winning, making the sacrifice his character must make all the
more meaningful.
Cruise isn’t the only big name on board as Russell Crowe
appears as Dr. Henry Jekyll, head of Prodigium, a secret organization whose
mission is to “recognize evil, examine it, contain it and destroy it.” On a tour of the facility he lords over,
eagle-eyed monster fans will see allusions to other characters in the Universal
Monster canon. It becomes obvious that Jekyll will be the linchpin in the Dark
Universe, his agents gathering monsters from around the world, all in an
effort for him to understand the evil he struggles to hide within.
The script wisely injects bits of dark humor
throughout, lest anyone take this movie too seriously. Though it suffers from the predictable,
bloated, action-laden third act, The Mummy succeeds in providing fun, smart
scares in its effort to satisfy a cynical modern audience. Whether this film is embraced remains to be
seen but Kurtzman can hold his head high as he’s delivered a worthy addition to
the grand Universal Monster tradition and has admirably resurrected one of its
most beloved properties.
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2017.
