The Mummy (2017) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Editor’s Note: this is an old, unformatted, unedited review. The author’s opinion might not match the original thoughts written in this article.

Directed by: Alex Kurtzman

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

Runtime: 120 min

Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) is a "soldier" (he's more of a thief) looking for a treasure with his companion, Chris Vail (Jake Johnson), when some mysterious Egyptian findings below the surface change their plans.

Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), a princess that had her destiny taken from her, was imprisoned there, but now she's finally awake and ready to release her anger and evil in the world.

The Mummy is the first movie from the brand new cinematic Dark Universe, where monsters and gods come to life to give us films like Dracula, Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera, Bride of Frankenstein and much, much more. So, is The Mummy the awesome start to the franchise Universal wanted? ... Nop. Not really.

This movie is filled with flaws after flaws. Characters, script, tone ... Annabelle Wallis' character is the most cliche, under-developed, damsel in distress that I've seen in a while. After an amazing Wonder Woman movie that empowered women and female characters, here comes Jenny, a useless and brainless girl that keeps being a plot device for the main characters.

Similar to DC Comics at the beginning of their universe, Universal wants to build its own all of a sudden without first actually considering making a good, "standalone" movie. There are huge exposition scenes throughout the whole runtime, but there's one at the very start that just made me think "oh god ... no, please stop!". Lazy writing and lack of creativity.

Even if this is a monster movie, the plot surpasses the plausible and it's very convoluted. The ending is straight up stupid (I'm sorry, but it's the best word to describe it) and the tone between comedy (there's a lot and it doesn't always land) and action is sometimes off.

In the middle of this mess, there are a few good things that elevate the film to a less negative rating ... Sofia Boutella really nails it as Ahmanet and Tom Cruise gives everything he has in the action sequences, as always. Russell Crowe is also in this movie and he's definitely a bright spot, especially during the one-on-one dialogues with Cruise. The action, even if it isn't as fun and entertaining as I expected, it still is a boost to the overall story. In addition to that, there's a lot of comedy, most of it is fine and there are a few ones that actually made me laugh out loud.

All in all, The Mummy doesn't live to the hype and it crumbles as the first film in the Dark Universe franchise. A messy plot, a lot of exposition scenes, a damsel in distress, a child-written ending and an unbalanced tone between comedy and action brings the whole movie down. Sofia Boutella is the big savior, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe are two bright spots and the comedy is actually funny. However, it's not enough to save this big disappointment.

| A+ : 9.3-10 | A: 8.7-9.2 | A- : 8.0-8.6 | B+ : 7.3-7.9 | B: 6.7-7.2 | B- : 6.0-6.6 || C+ : 5.3-5.9 | C: 4.7-5.2 | C- : 4.0-4.6 | D+ : 3.3-3.9 | D: 2.7-3.2 | D- : 2.0-2.6 | F: 0-1.9 |