Superhero Media: The Mummy (2017)

I actually kind of enjoyed it. Yes, The Mummy is silly, generic and tries a little too hard to build a 'cinematic universe', but there is really a lot to enjoy if you don't take it seriously. First things first, no, this isn't as good as the version with Brendan Fraiser, or even Abbot and Costello, but Tom Cruise is not the problem. You may not like Cruise on a personal level around his faith and treatment of people who confront him, but there's really no denying that he's a solid actor, especially in leading-man action roles. In fact, the casting on The Mummy is solid right though, even with Russel Crowe as Henry Jekyll, who was probably my favourite character in the entire undertaking, with Russ' trademark 'short fuse' working well. The scene where he injects his hand with a serum (to reverse the change) casually during a conversation or when he slowly spirals into Hyde before being stopped by the female lead are scenes worth watching on their own, and probably even the entire film, if you're painting or whatever at the same time. I was honestly excited for more 'Dark Universe" if only because Universal could really put some money behind such a franchise. 

The titular Mummy is an evil sorceress who tried to conquer ancient Egypt through magic and bringing the god Set into the world to rule by her side. As dull as the "evil woman seeks to usurp the patriarchy through foul magic" trope is (not to mention pretty sexist), the Mummy being female and the apocalyptic tone borne by the return of Set are reasonably engaging. That the mummy uses sexual wiles to lure men into her sway is, again, generic, but Cruise having to tear himself between a rotting corpse and the generic blonde female lead makes for some fun scenes, as well as his dead friend giving him advice An American Werewolf in London style. The threadbare plot tends to jump from action scene to exposition to action scene, but that's par for the course with these kind of blockbusters, and I found the pace to be engaging enough that I was really struggling to understand why The Mummy received such universally bad reviews. After watching a couple of reviews, it seems the 'world-building' is also an issue for many. 

Again, I actually like of liked the world-building. Maybe I'm just an oldschool nerd who's way too into continuity, but the idea of a secret society built by Henry Jekyll to "combat evil" is pretty interesting; I would have liked to see where that went. The film ends with Cruise, now with the Mummy's powers, but working on his own moral compass, riding into the desert and Jekyll saying that he's out there when they need him. Rather than having a hidden scene in the credits, there are images that hint at other monsters out there in the world, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula and the Bride of Frankenstein. I'm not sure what a villain for all of these monsters would be, but I can't help but imagine an "Avengers" of Dracula, the Mummy, a Werewolf, Frankenstein's Monster and the Invisible Man teaming up for a film it seems we'll never get now. Martian invasion? Lovecraftian horrors? Who knows, but I do feel it's a bit of a shame we'll never see it. I found The Mummy to be quite enjoyable, but your experience may be different, as always, try it for yourself before you judge.