¡®The Mummy¡± begins with one main premise: Tom Cruise still has it. It ends with a promise: Tom Cruise will always have it. Assuming you¡¯re on board with those statements, you¡¯ll have a blast.
On its own, however, ¡°The Mummy¡± is pretty weird. It¡¯s like a high-speed blender that mixes equal parts action flick, zombie thrills and archaeological lore in the hope that the result will be a delicious blockbuster smoothie. Unfortunately, this doesn¡¯t quite happen. In his eagerness to cram everything into the mix, director Alex Kurtzman (¡°Transformers¡°) loses his grip on some key plot lines, leaving the audience spinning in a dizzy whirl of ¡°Huh?¡±
To be fair, Kurtzman had a lot on his plate. ¡°The Mummy¡± kicks off Universal Pictures¡¯ so-called Dark Universe, which has the studio reviving its iconic monster movie franchises and presenting them in new guises. That means ¡°The Mummy¡± had double duty as a megahit that could stand on its own and the first salvo in a Halloween-themed line of movies in the style of the ¡°X-Men¡± and ¡°Justice League¡± franchises. The pressure to open on a high note must have been tough, but luckily Kurtzman had a secret weapon: Tom Cruise ¡ª flashing that charming grin and assuring him of box-office bank.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.