The Mummy Movie Review

By: Lynn Barker

In The Mummy, ancient Egyptian Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) is destined to be queen of Egypt until her dad has a son. As a girl, she is passed over in favor of the child. She’s also no longer her dad’s pampered “baby”. This sets Ahmanet on a murder spree that ends in her mummification and live burial. But, having teamed up with evil Set, God of the Dead, she’ll be baaaack!!

Ahmanet, still with mummified flesh, is chainedCourtesy of Universal Studios

Mummy and her Knights

In 1127 A.D. England, Crusader Knights Templar protected a powerful red stone from an ancient dagger and buried it with one of their members. Centuries earlier in ancient Egypt, Princess Ahmanet is supposed to inherit the throne but her dad has a baby boy with a new wife and she is cheated out of her destiny. Making a deal with Set, the Death God, Ahmanet gets the power to murder her dad and baby brother but her plan to make Set a mortal man at her side is dashed when she is found out. She is mummified and buried alive far away from Egypt.

Mummy Ahmanet tries to control Nick Courtesy of Universal Studios

Adventurer Thieves

In modern day Iraq, Army reconnaissance men Nick Morgan (Tom Cruise) and his buddy Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are actually after antiquities, ancient objects they can sell on the Black Market.  Their commander Colonel Greenway (Courtney B. Vance) is wise to them and when they call in an air strike on an ancient village, basically to help them escape, they open up a giant sink hole. When archeologist Jenny Halsey (Anabelle Wallis) arrives, she realizes the “hole” is the opening to an ancient tomb with Egyptian markings….in Persia. Weird.

Nick, Colonel Greenway and Chris VailCourtesy of Universal Studios

Into the Mummy’s Tomb

Jenny, Nick and Vail enter the tomb to find it more of a prison to keep something in than a shrine for the dead. Nick carelessly chops a chain that frees a mummy sarcophagus. He then starts seeing visions of a beautiful princess who announces that, since he has freed her, he is her “chosen” one. When the cargo plane carrying the mummy to London crashes, Nick has given Jenny a parachute and she lives. He should be dead but he doesn’t have a scratch on him. At the crash site, the now freed mummy starts sucking the life out of people and building her undead army.

Jenny tries to help Nick when he sees visionsCourtesy of Universal Studios

In the Morgue and Beyond

Vail, under the mummy’s power, killed Greenway. Nick had to shoot him but is he dead? Nick wakes up in a morgue with a tag on his toe. Why isn’t he dead?  “Zombie” Vail is there telling him he’s not dead but he’ll wish he were. Mummy Ahmanet looks more human as she sucks more life essence and she searches for the dagger and the red stone that can bring Set to life. After several confrontations with the Mummy, including her attempts to use Nick as her human vessel for Set, Nick and Jenny end up with the dagger but no red stone.

The Mummy conjures up a sandstormCourtesy of Universal Studios

Enter Dr. Jekyll

Jenny and Nick are taken to Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) who is Jenny’s secret boss. He’s a monster himself when he becomes Mr. Hyde but he’s trying to stop monsters worldwide. Jekyll has Ahmanet chained up but she keeps trying to control Nick. Meanwhile the red stone that belongs on the dagger is found in the Crusader’s tomb. Nick fights with Mr. Hyde and finally injects him with a serum that turns him back into Jekyll. It’s a race to get and destroy the stone before Ahmanet can put it back in the dagger, kill Nick and have the Death God Set take over his body forever. Who will die? Who might live forever and who will make the ultimate sacrifice?

Jenny and Dr. Jekyll discuss Nick's futureCourtesy of Universal Studios

Wrapping Up

I was expecting more genuine scares with The Mummy reboot. Yes there are reanimated skeletons and half-fleshed critters galore but they are mostly involved in fight action rather than making you jump out of your seat as tension builds. There is a ton of stunt and fight action in the film but, for once, Cruise isn’t a squeaky clean hero. His character is very flawed and a woman gets to kick his butt…a lot! Of course she is supernatural and so is her strength but somehow, this is refreshing to watch. However, much of the fighting is in very dark settings and the editing is uber-fast so that I couldn’t always tell what was going on.

Nick with the Mummy's sarcophagusCourtesy of Universal Studios

Production and Mummy design is great. Massive sets are believable and creative. Our female mummy is indeed wrapped up in shredded cloth but she is also covered with tattoos and has a very strange double iris in her eyes when she’s the most evil.

Chris Vail is creeped out by the MummyCourtesy of Universal Studios

The story isn’t all that original but the end has a twist you probably won’t see coming. It is nice to see a few tributes to the last three more tongue-in-cheek Mummy movies that starred Brendon Fraser. We see the familiar Book of the Dead and a mummy-induced sand storm with her face in it much like those in the previous films. There are a few attempts at buddy humor and a few funny moments.. Nick to the Mummy “We’re never going to happen. It’s not me, it’s you!”

Nick (Tom Cruise) tries to protect Jenny during Zero-GCourtesy of Universal Studios

When Nick’s buddy Vail is basically turned into a zombie who returns to advise him, I couldn’t help but remember American Werewolf in London, in which the lead “wolf” character’s pal did the same in that classic monster film. A little “borrowing” there?

Overall, though flawed, as a popcorn-munching adventure with at least minimal scares and a lot of action, The Mummy reboot will entertain you. We go three stars.

The Mummy Movie Rating: 

The Mummy PosterCourtesy of Universal Studios

The Mummy is in theaters now!

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