The Mummy

Movie Name: The Mummy
Year of Release: 2017

Director: Alex Kurtzman

Stars: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
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Synopsis:

Writer, Producer and Director Alex Kurtzman, a name long associated with JJ Abrams, is tackling Universal's first film in a series of monster films that are supposedly coming out in a series. The first is "The Mummy", which focuses its attention on the character of Nick Morton, a military man, who while in service in Iraq, discovers an ancient tomb containing a cursed mummy. Turns out this mummy is in fact a long lost princess and heir to the Egyptian throne, who made a pact with evil forces, and now freed, focuses her attention on Nick. Nick alongside his unexpected ally, the beautiful Jenny Halsey, are soon the target of this powerful entity, who follows them to London, where she starts wreaking havoc. It's up to these two with the help of a hidden society to try to derail her plans.
The most surprising element about a film such as this, isn't the sophistication of the visual effects, or the considerable talent that has been placed in front and behind cameras. It's effectively the fact that there are 6 talented screenwriters credited to this film, and yet this is potentially one of the most nullified stories that has graced the screens in recent memory. There is no intrigue, no character building, no real opposing forces to speak of, no real sense of excitement. There are some random chase scenes, some characters that try to mimic Griffin Dunne's deadpan delivery from John Landis' "An American Werewolf in London", all of them amounting to very little. The most recent films from Stephen Sommers focused on "The Mummy" were silly and over the top, but there was a somewhat genuine sense of silliness to them. This new incarnation doesn't really know what it wants to be: a classic pulpy adventure or modern revisitation with a bite. Sadly it fails on both counts: the mummy comes across more like a tragic figure from the past, and Tom Cruise spends the film looking confused and surprised by what he really needs to be doing. A messy and instantly forgettable film.