Reboots are always a baffling thing, especially when it comes to series that were good to begin with. The Mummy reboot falls into the category, considering how beloved the Egyptian action-adventure films were (save for the third one). And yet, here we are, with a Tom Cruise-led remake that literally no one asked for.
It’s weird how they’ve made Cruise more of the “Jack Reacher” lone wolf type over Brandan Fraiser’s lovable badass. He’s either running or doing complex air tricks, and seemingly leaving all charisma at the door. The overall look of the film seems to be missing that World War era feel, with the golden browns and everything filtered through a soft yellow light. Instead, it looks more like Arrival, this year’s big alien sci-fi number — cold greens and grays, lots of military tech. In fact, the whole trailer feels more science-fiction horror than fantasy adventure, and a very generic one at that.
Additionally, the mummy of the title is more alien now, with dual irises and changing skin. It would be fine if you want to have an ancient monster, but why call it a mummy? This may perhaps point to this being a case of the script being changed to fit into the name of the franchise along with some of the other elements of the story. If so, that’s a shame, both for the franchise and the original script.
Beside Tom Cruise, the cast include Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, and Jake Johnson. This will be director Alex Kurtzman second major film, having only written and produced before the mediocre People Like Us. While the actors are solid and the director has a lot of film experience, one can’t help but feel the fact that it looks like such a carbon-copy of other, better films of the genre.
The Mummy will open in theaters on June 9, 2017.
