Direction: Alex Kurtzman; Cast: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance,
Russell Crowe; Screenplay: Davif Koepp,
Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman, Story: Jon Spaihts, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet; Editing: Paul Hirsch, Gina Hirsch; Producer: Alex Kurtzman; Music: Brian Tyler; Genre: Adventure, Horror; Distributor: Universal Pictures; Location: Middle East and USA Running Time: 107 minutes
Technical assessment: 2
Moral assessment: 2.5
CINEMA rating: V18
An underground construction team unearth a graveyard of
11th century knight crusaders somewhere in London. A mysterious
man, who says he is authorized to investigate the scene, narrates the story of the ruthless Egyptian
Princess Ahmanet (Boutella). Ahmanet was to succeed her father until her stepmother gives
birth to a boy and strips her of her birthright. She murders her
family and makes a pact with the Egyptian god, Set, and tries to sacrifice her lover to give his spirit a human
form. But the Pharaoh’s priests mummify Ahmanet live and sentences her to a mercury-surrounded prison. In present day Iraq,
soldier-of-fortune Nick Morton (Cruise) accidentally
frees the tomb while investigating the area with his partner Chris Vail and
one-time lover archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Wallis). Ahmanet feeds on humans to regenerate her body and summons her power to possess those around
her so she can capture Nick whom she has chosen to be Set’s human vessel.
Meanwhile, Edward Hyde (Crowe) intervenes and reveals his mission to rid the
world of evil by capturing and experimenting on them. Ahmanet, however, frees herself and recovers the dagger and
stone necessary to complete the ritual. In the final struggle, Nick succumbs to Ahmanet and is possessed by Set but regains control when he
sees the dead body of Jenny. He kills Ahmanet and resurrects Jenny before disappearing into the
darkness.
This Mummy franchise
is by far the most ambitious failure. The storyline erupts with mindless cliché and
poor interpretation of themes you've seen elsewhere. There are moments of lightheartedness and enjoyable action
but these do not compensate for the muddled plot and characters. This is
technically impressive with all the meticulous work in recreating ancient times, modern zombies and a creepy lab fighting evil. But
without a solid story, the storytelling tools are useless. The biggest problem
with the film is Cruise himself who continuously lives that self-absorbed man
stuck in juvenile mode who by some epiphany realizes that selflessness alone can save the day.
He is either too old or not believable enough to pull it off. There is
absolutely no chemistry between him and Jenny, and not enough reason for us to root for Morton to stay alive and
for Cruise to do a sequel.
A
real hero is a hero by choice, not by fate. Almost
every movie about the history of a superhero shows us how ordinary people are
transformed into superheroes not by physical abilities or supernatural power
but by their character that makes them worthy to receive the special gifts that
will make them “supers”. But
heroes need not be super (or come with superpowers) because a hero just needs to see what he or she has
within. A special talent, a competence, a passion or just the very self. And
when that is strengthened, that becomes the power. Now, that power is revealed
when they
face a critical or a life-and-death situation
wherein they need to choose between themselves and others, between protecting their interests or that of the common good. We see also how a selfish,
immature or lawless person transforms and reforms to be selfless, responsible and upright when
they understand love and sacrifice. And this makes an ordinary person a hero. In
principle, The Mummy wanted to show how Nick
is transformed into a hero—whether it was successful or not is another question.
And with the aggressive action sequences, sexual
innuendos and adult themes present, the movie is preferable for the older audiences.
