Alex Kurtzman’s US$125 million film The Mummy is just about what you would imagine of a Tom Cruise 2017 action film with that sort of money thrown behind it.
Expect dramatic chase scenes and explosions, daring acrobatics and stunning computer generation during 107 minutes of what is a fairly predictable narrative.
The film begins in the 12th century with the burial of a crusader knight in London and quickly transitioning to modern day Iraq with US Army soldier Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) attempting to try his luck stealing treasurers from a militant village, the confident but reckless Cruise and his army buddy blow their way into discovering an ancient Egyptian tomb.
You can probably predict the formula of what comes next.
The soldiers find a cursed Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus hidden inside the Iraqi tomb and take it to London before Russel Crowe comes along playing Dr Henry Jekyll of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fame.
The film contains a series of near-biblical plagues, mutations and resurrections, which against incredible odds the seemingly undisciplined soldier portrayed by Cruise dispatches with remarkable proficiency.
As he takes on the un-dead and tries to battle evil in underground London he sheds his clothes, makes cheesy jokes and seduces his co-star – but you knew that would happen before you sat down to watch.
With flash computers, they discover a fictitious Egyptian princess can be resurrected a millennium after being mummified – but even that technology and over $100 million could not bring life into this film.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Rated: M
Distributor: Universal Studios
In cinemas now.
