The Mummy
2017  PG-13  ACTION  1h 40min
CAST— Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Russell Crowe
MUSIC— Brian Tyler  DIRECTOR— Alex Kurtzman

     Though one of the worst reviewed films of 2017, this reinterpretation of classic Universal Monster movie The Mummy (1932) actually isn't too terrible. Tom Cruise stars as a soldier whose side job is stealing precious artifacts and selling them on the black market. He, his assistant and an actual archaeologist discover an ancient Egyptian tomb buried about a thousand miles away from Egypt, so that seems like a pretty big deal. What proves to be a bigger deal is that the sarcophagus within holds a bad girl Egyptian princess who once tried to rule the world by summoning Set, Egyptian god of chaos. Now little Miss Mummy has been reawakened and wants to finish the job. She chooses Cruise to be Set's human vessel and needs to kill him with a sacred dagger in order for Set to rise. Or something. Cruise resists this idea, and with the help of the lovely archaeologist and Cruise's endlessly annoying, recently undead friend (a plot device practically stolen from An American Werewolf in London [1981]), tries to evade the princess and her hordes of instant mummies. Help may or may not be found in the mysterious Henry Jekyll, a doctor who claims to be searching for a way to eradicate evil itself. But is he to be trusted, or is Jekyll "hyding" valuable information? Supposedly the beginning of another shared film universe, this time featuring monsters instead of superheroes, this is purely escapist fun. No real substance or anything of value, though plenty of action keeps one watching. Not really good, not really bad, certainly no Oscar contender, but not quite worth all the bad hype. Razzie-winner for Worst Actor (Cruise).
OUR RATING— **
ORIGINAL— The Mummy (1932/1959/1999)