The Mummy Review

Certificate: 15

Running time: 110 minutes 

Directed by: Alex Kurtzman.

What's it about: The evil spirit of an Ancient Egyptian princess is unleashed into the world, after her tomb is unearthed by soldier Nick Morton.

The verdict: The Mummy is a reboot of The Mummy franchise, and the first instalment in the Dark Universe film series - Universal's planned revival and reboot of classic monster characters.

While the most recent Mummy films were centred around explorer Rick O'Connell, the main character is now soldier Nick Morton who is played by Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise is joined by actors Russell Crowe, Jake Johnson, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella as the titular Mummy. On paper, this is a strong cast, but in reality the cast and characters are pretty weak. Tom Cruise's character, although quite funny at times, isn't necessarily that likeable. And in a film where the main character is in life or death situations, I do think it helps if you are rooting for them and care about their wellbeing. His love interest Jennifer is played by Annabelle Wallis, who is slightly wooden at times, and her character is a bit annoying. And Jake Johnson is used merely as fodder - the right hand man to Tom Cruise, but with no depth or backstory to him at all.

The plot is okay. It starts quite well but as extra elements are introduced, instead of adding interest to the film, it actually just makes it more nonsensical. The main problem in this regard, is the way the film has been built around Tom Cruise's character instead of the actual Mummy.

Another big problem for me, was the lack of horror elements. With a fifteen certificate, I would have expected there to be a lot more tension and perhaps a few big scares. I feel that they have missed a big opportunity to start Dark Universe with a bang. The Mummy herself, although evil, was not necessarily that terrifying.

However, there were some aspects of the film that I did really like. Firstly, and this is something that I did not think I would be saying, I really liked Russell Crowe in this. I would strongly encourage you not to look at anything about his character before you see it. I thought his character was really interesting, and I enjoyed his performance.

The other aspect of the film that I really liked, was the introduction of elements that will probably be used across the Dark Universe films. A mysterious, shadowy organisation, secrets waiting to be uncovered, characters with dark stories etc - I love things like that, and I am looking forward to seeing where and in what direction they take the franchise, and the film universe.

Should you watch this film? No. Although this is enjoyable multiplex fodder which you would probably enjoy in the cinema, it is not a must see and would be fine to wait for the DVD release.