Playing an amoral soldier of fortune/can’t miss ladies man, Cruise looks like he’s struggling to get a handle on a character that seems like it was written for a guy twenty years younger in the Bradley Cooper/ Ryan Gosling-model.
Worst of all is how badly Cruise, perhaps the greatest modern movie star, is miscast. Did anyone involved even have a single original idea to contribute, or was the goal just to make something so safe and familiar audiences would feel like they’ve seen it all before. Not only are exact archetypes from the ‘99 version of THE MUMMY-lifted, from the soldier-of-fortune hero/brainy heroine/comic-relief sidekick (the smarter ‘32 version is ignored), but they even dare to recycle bits and pieces of movies like AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (which they also own the rights to), with Jake Johnson’s un-dead sidekick showing up as a decaying corpse to give his former friend guidance throughout his adventure. The DNA of so many movies forms the basis of THE MUMMY, that it’s enough to make your head-spin. The biggest culprit here is a near total lack of originality. With so much riding on it, why does the new version of THE MUMMY seem so half-assed? They tried this with DRACULA UNTOLD, but with Tom Cruise as their star, and FAST & FURIOUS scribe Chris Morgan god-fathering it, it seems like this time the studio’s not taking any chances. REVIEW: THE MUMMY is Universal’s make-or-break attempt to kick-start their long-planned “Dark Universe” franchise, where classic monsters from the studio catalog will come together in a multi-film saga. PLOT: A treasure hunting soldier ( Tom Cruise) and an archaeologist ( Annabelle Wallis) inadvertently awaken an ancient, malevolent mummy ( Sofia Boutella) bent on world domination.