DARK UNIVERSE is the name of Universal's monster cinematic universe and THE MUMMY is their "first" film in the series. I say first because I was under the impression for a while that DRACULA UNTOLD was supposed to be the first film in the series. It still could be and only time will tell whether Universal brings that film into its fold. I wouldn't mind seeing Luke Evans return as Dracula but I would like to make a request contingent on his return and all Dark Universe movies going forward:
MAKE THEM RATED R!!!!!!!
So, The Mummy has been hammered with bad reviews and, until Transformers 5 came out, it was the worst reviewed movie of the summer.
Is it actually a bad movie? My opinion is absolutely not.
The Mummy is no worse than Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Jurassic World in my opinion. Had this particular Mummy movie come out, say, back in 2008 people would've probably been more receptive to it. I say that because what I see in this film is a movie that has been done before by everybody already. DC did it last year and got trashed by the reviews. Marvel did it years ago. The X-Men did it before that. Hell, Universal did it almost twenty years ago with, you guessed it, The Mummy.
It's not a bad plot. It's just incredibly familiar.
THE PLOT
A duo of relic hunters uncover a secret Egyptian tomb a 1,000 miles from Egypt. They inadvertently unleash an ancient evil upon the world. A secret agency intervenes in an attempt to thwart evil. In the end it comes down to a face off between one of the relic hunters and the mummy.
WHAT I LIKED
A Horror Film for Horror Fans. There are a ton of references and homages to horror films across the ages. It was so much fun watching and seeing all the Easter eggs. Obviously there are references to the classic Universal monster movies, I was giddy with excitement just seeing the hand of the Creature From the Black Lagoon. But then there was a running motif in homage to An American Werewolf In London, that of our cursed main character haunted by his dead best friend. There were re-animated crusader knights, a reference to the Blind Dead films (some of my favorites) and so much more.
Sofia Boutella. The Mummy, Princess Ahmanet, is played by actress Sofia Boutella and she is awesome! She really commits to the role and displays a wide range of emotions across the film. Her costume and character design is both sexy, scary, and powerful. Some of the best horror moments in the film come directly from her. I wish there was a lot more of her in the film and that the film had been from her point of view. The classic horror films endure because of the monsters not the human protagonists. It would've been so cool to skew the narrative to be from the monster's POV, the people trying to save the world seen as the antagonists.
I liked Russell Crowe as Henry Jekyll and it was good to see Annabelle Wallis in another horror film.
NITPICKS
Familiar Plot. This movie is by no means bad. It's just such a familiar plot and film approach that you feel as if you've seen it before. In short, it feels like a super hero movie. You have your flawed hero who's greatest enemy is actually himself and in defeating his own personal flaws he defeats the badguy. There's a ton of set up and world building to drive home the message "You're part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." After enduring similar crowded plots with Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad I think audiences are tired of such approaches and they're so fresh in our memories we know how it's going to go.
Too Much Humor. For a "Dark Universe" film it seemed fairly light. Actors Tom Cruise and Jake Johnson are a little too humorous to maintain the seriousness of the plot. In trying to follow the Marvel method of cinematic movies and avoid the pitfalls of BVSDOJ I feel they overdid it with the humor. I don't mind the humor but it is very difficult to pull off correctly in a horror film. Using John Landis' tactics from An American Werewolf in London was a good idea, and while I enjoyed the homage, I think it went a little too far.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DARK UNIVERSE GOING FORWARD
Stop trying to be super heroes. I get that you want the kind of money that the super hero films are making. We all do. But don't try to be something you're not. We all want more cinematic universes but we don't want the same thing over and over. You guys are unique with your characters. SO EMBRACE IT! Be monsters! Be about the monsters. If you must model yourself on super heroes look at LOGAN as the example to follow. Logan proved you don't have to be humorous to be successful.
We all want what you got. It just has be presented in its own way.
Scale It Down. Horror movies are traditionally made with smaller budgets and are typically smaller stories. The entire world being in jeopardy plotline is great but it is all too familiar. Build to it. Don't start with it. Scale down the film's budget and focus only on the story you're trying to tell in that one movie. Let the cinematic universe grow organically, don't force it. Your movies need to stand alone before they can stand together in your "Avengers" film.
Rated R. These are horror movies. Go whole head into the horror genre and remind us all why these classic characters are to be feared. The super hero movies single goal is to get the heroes right and have the best action spectacles ever. For horror films you need to make sure the films are scary and the monsters are frightening. Your equivalent for super hero action sequences are frightening sequences.
Play to your audience. Not everybody likes monsters or being scared. Your focus audience is smaller so don't try to play to people who don't like horror. All you're going to do by making it accessible to everybody is disappoint the people who actually do like horror films. Blood, gore, swearing, and nudity, these are the things people expect from horror films. You don't necessarily needs all of them but if you're making a Dracula movie you gotta have buckets of blood.
Be careful with big name actors. Big name actors are great but they also tell us certain things about the movie. With Tom Cruise set against the Mummy, we all knew he'd survive and win in the end because it's Tom Cruise. Is there ever any doubt that Sylvester Stallone won't win at the end of Rambo? No. The threat of the villain is subsequently diminished and if there is one thing you don't want in the Dark Universe it's a non-threatening villain. Young unknown likeable actors we can believe that they might not survive by the end. Plus with Tom Cruise as the hero you shift the focus away from the Mummy. Not good.
Marvel and DC try to be the best super hero movies they can be.
The Dark Universe should try to be the best horror/monster movies they can be. Horror and the monsters, should be the priority of every film. Once your brand is established the money will come.
THE VERDICT
The Mummy boasts a great monster played wonderfully by Sofia Boutella. There's some great and exciting sequences and beautiful visual effects. There are a ton of horror references that make you believe that real fans of horror cinema had a hand in making the movie. Unfortunately the film's overall plot and execution is a little too familiar. It's PG-13 so it doesn't entirely commit to being a horror film and tries to be a super hero film on the side, excess humor and a world ending plot and all. Had this film come out years ago I imagine the reception would've been more favorable. It isn't bad. But it is more of the same.
Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Average
Nude-O-Meter: 0.5 out of 10
For more Universal monster movies and similar films check out the posts below
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