The Mummy

THE MUMMY

Director : Alex Kurtzman

Year : 2017

Genre : Horror

Rating : *1/2

It was meant to be the triumphant overture to Universal's anticipated Dark Universe but Alex Kurtzman's dreary fantasy horror remake 'The Mummy' is a disappointingly dull start to the ghoulish proceedings and, if the overwhelmingly negative responses both critical and commercial are anything to go by, this is one franchise that will quickly be cast back into the shadows. The usually charismatic Tom Cruise is uncharacteristically wooden in the lead role of Nick Morton, a tricksy soldier/archaeological scavenger who, after unearthing an ancient sarcophagus in the deserts of Iraq, unwittingly unleashes the vengeful wrath of the undead Egyptian sorceress Ahmanet ('Kingsman's Sofia Boutella) who plans to use Nick's body as a vessel for Set, the God of death.

The first in a line-up of classic monster-horror reboots (the next of which is Bill Condon's 'The Bride Of Frankenstein' due for release in February 2018) 'The Mummy' certainly ups the action and fantasy elements of it's many cinematic predecessors - with a much trailed 'Mission: Impossible'- style plane crash sequence proving to be the most exhilarating set piece in the entire film. But this and a few sparsely entertaining scenes of Cruise being chased by hordes of CG zombie skeletons through the streets of London are not enough to breathe life into this otherwise torpid bundle of mouldy narrative cliches, risible dialogue and grostesque computer visuals.