NEW ON THE BIG SCREEN / THE MUMMY
HORROR THRILLER. With TOM CRUISE, SOFIA BOUTELLA and ANNABELLE WALLIS. Director: ALEX KURTZMAN. 13HV. In SA cinemas now. Modelled after Marvel’s successful franchise, Universal Pictures jumps on the shared universe bandwagon with this reboot it hopes will be the first in a “Dark Universe” series that revives its classic movie monsters. Cruise plays Nick Morton, a treasure hunter who, with the help of a fellow mercenary (Jake Johnson) and an archaeologist (Wallis), discovers the tomb of Ahmanet (Boutella), an Ancient Egyptian princess buried alive after plotting to kill her father and usurp the throne. By removing her sarcophagus from her tomb, Morton and co accidentally free Ahmanet – and she’ll stop at nothing to turn him into her mate and a vessel that Set, god of death, can possess to take physical form.
Critics have lambasted the film – based on 192 reviews it gets a dismal 17 percent on Rottentomatoes.com with the site concluding: “Lacking the campy fun of the franchise’s most recent entries and failing to deliver many monster-movie thrills, The Mummy suggests a speedy unravelling for the Dark Universe.” The Observer concurs, giving the movie two stars and describing it as “a wholly unnecessary reboot cursed by cliché. Even A-listers Cruise and Russell Crowe – as Dr Jekyll no less – can’t bring this corpse back to life”.
But Total Film is more positive, awarding it three stars and writing, “While there’s little here to jangle the nerves, The Mummy does wrap up enough adventure, action and quips to make it, if not a scream, a worthwhile Friday night out.”
Empire gives it three stars: “An odd but frothily entertaining genre cocktail that coasts on the charisma of its two biggest names and keeps things just fun enough to forgive its considerable lapses in narrative.” – COMPILED BY SANDRA VISSER