Starring Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe and Annabelle Wallis; there are parts of director Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy, a story about an ancient Egyptian princess, awakened from her crypt and determined to wreak havoc, that I enjoyed. An example would be Russell Crowe’s ‘second character’ who proved a lot of fun to watch even though he appears but very briefly.

Another highlight is courtesy of Sofia Boutella, an actress who was introduced to many audiences as Gazelle in Matthew Vaughn’s rather good Kingsman – The Secret Service (2014). I adored Gazelle even though she was a ‘baddie.’ And because of that experience, I was sure that Boutella would bring something special, particularly physicality-wise to the character of The Mummy (Princess Ahmanet).

Princess Ahmanet stood out so much for me that all other performances and characters mostly paled in comparison. Perhaps her character was just the most interesting overall. What I know for sure is that I found myself genuinely scared of the idea that I might personally encounter the princess as I went about my day-to-day. Something to do with the costume design and special effects, I’m sure. That and Boutella’s performance, of course. There’s also the fact that a lot of the film is set in London, England, my beloved city.

I admit that there are points during The Mummy when I thought, ‘This is interesting. Now I’m excited about the other movies coming from Universal’s ‘Dark Universe’. It’s just unfortunate that by the end of the film, I was singing an entirely different tune altogether.  The story, writing and execution turned out to feel too basic for me, especially for a Tom Cruise movie. 

On a more positive note, I’m now even more curious about Egypt’s real history and I may just delve into that as a result. I may even…

Who am I kidding? I’m busy, and far too into film to make time for more history books.

Give The Mummy a chance if you’re curious.

Happy Film Loving,

G