The Mummy

Actually, it's good. The Mummy has its flaws, but Tom Cruise's charisma, the fast pace and the effort to introduce a new world for two hours easily entertains. The opening is reminiscent of Indy or the “Uncharted” games, the horror interludes work surprisingly well, and at times The Mummy straddles the line between PG-13 and R-rated. You probably won't be downright scared, but saying it’s horror adventure is not an exaggeration. There's more or less always something going on, and once they stop trying for funny interludes, it really paces just as you'd expect and hope after the trailers. In the end, it's a bit of a bummer that while The Mummy is a proper adventure flick, it unfortunately doesn't offer any scenes that you'll be excitedly describing to your friends and sending them to the cinema. As the start of a potentially interesting cinematic universe, however, it works without the slightest problem, and I'll happily be there next time. (12/06/2017)

It is so, so conflicting, what a shame. For a while it's an adaptation of Uncharted with everything, for a while it is and adventurous silly action movie with an annoying sidekick à la modern Mummy, for a while it continues in the darkened mode of gothic horror, at times it would very much like to refer to the style of good old universal movies, it often uses to the contemporary blockbuster plague "CGI solves everything", in the style of all contemporary franchise movies that make the universe go round, future thing are more indicated and actually told and... And you probably already got the idea. On the other hand, it's well-paced, most of the action has a drive, and even though it would be nice to replace Cruise with someone like new Price/Lee, nothing bad can be said about him this time. We cannot say it is a modernization of a (let alone respectful) of a true classic movie from the Universal department not even remotely. But as a (so far purely on the paper) more advanced alternative of all comic book cinemas series it´s enough to get by. Especially if the movie would have been in the same mode throughout the footage, preferably in Uncharted mode with slightly horror stylization. (08/06/2017)

Alright, here’s the deal. At first, I thought Tom Cruise had lost it by jumping into a remake of the Brendan Fraser Mummy adventure from 20 years ago. But then I realized, nope—this isn’t a reboot of that trilogy. It’s actually a remake of the OG Mummy from nearly a century ago. So I adjusted my expectations and went in with the mindset of watching a classic dumb adventure where the plot makes little sense, but you’re entertained anyway. It’s kind of like a Lara Croft-style romp. The story’s ridiculous, but surprisingly, it’s well-shot, and the action sequences are top-tier. Tom Cruise and Jake Johnson are the comic relief, Russell Crowe’s character feels a bit unnecessary, but Sofia Boutella and Annabelle Wallis are absolute standouts. If nothing else, those two alone make it worth watching. (14/03/2021)

We haven’t seen such a disappointing mishmash of an A-movie in a while. After the “mirror talk” in the ladies’ restroom, the movie falls into a downward spiral. As a horror adventure set in the present day with a wise-cracking Tom Cruise, it couldn’t have ended well. After a few extraordinarily successful years, Universal wagered on proven blockbuster screenwriters – and it failed spectacularly. You cannot have a cash cow without an idea or enthusiasm. Possibly Russell Crow’s worst role? (19/06/2017)

All the ingredients you need for an adventurous tale are abundantly present here. Beautiful locations, a stunning damsel in distress, a courageous hero who goes to great lengths, and a mysterious tale as the central theme. But what's the point when there is a desperate lack of substance and balance? Nick is too arrogant in the beginning and then unbelievably noble as time goes on. Ahmanet spends most of her time in dried-up form, so there is nothing specific to fear, and Vail, the joking friend, is pure evil with his boisterous approach. The biggest joy is the fact that Russell Crowe didn't just drop in for a minute, but it is truly disappointing to find out that perhaps every other line was written by a different screenwriter, turning a potential blockbuster into almost a self-parody. I don't want to do a disservice to The Mummy, as I was mildly entertained at times, but its perplexing genre inconsistency, strangely anticlimactic epilogue, and absence of any new idea, where the only adrenaline moment is the airplane crash shown in the trailers, left me feeling frustrated just a few hours after watching it. (08/06/2017)