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Comic and Toy Czar

Location: Monsterland
Posts: 7216
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The Mummy


The "Dark Universe" has kicked off. They probably would have preferred "Monsterverse" but Legendary beat them to it. Between weak reviews and the continuing strength of the Amazon Princess, this will probably not live up to Universal's expectations. Is it awful? No. Is it good? Well, not really. It lives in the gray "Summer Blockbuster" area where mediocre franchises like the Transformers have taken up residence.

Some spoilers to follow....



This version of the Mummy is much closer to Brendan Frasier than Boris Karloff. Some of the film works fine, but like BvS and Avengers AoU the world building stuff is ham-fistedly tossed in and disrupts the narrative flow quite a bit. Having six writers didn't help, and it could have used a more seasoned director than hit-or-miss writer Alex Kurtzman.

Tom Cruise is fine. Russell Crowe is fine. Sophia Boutella didn't have much to work with. I've seen a lot of reviews bashing Annabelle Wallis as the love interest and Jake Johnson as the sidekick, but I thought they were fine.

Dr. Jekyll and Prodigium are Nick Fury and SHIELD. I guess if you're building a shared universe, might as well rip off the experts. There's plenty of Easter eggs at Prodigium HQ referencing guys like Frank, Drac and Gill. Mr. Hyde does make an appearance but I was fairly unimpressed. I didn't want LXG level ridiculous, but something more than Crowe with extra make-up and a Cockney accent would have been nice.

The main story line is pretty much by-the-numbers as far as Mummy films go, just Rule 63'd. There's a few jump scares that really didn't work and some OK digital effects. The subtle horror of the original Universal Monsters films is gone, unfortunately. Guess they figure they can't hold the attention of modern audiences without big, loud, shiny things.

In all, a bit of a weak start to the DU. Next is "Bride of Frankenstein" in February 2019 with Javier Bardem as the Monster. Johnny Depp will play the Invisible Man at some point. Hopefully he'll have a funny hat. He does love funny hats.

Conclusion....if you're mildly interested, wait for on demand or Netflix.



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6/10/2017, 11:37 pm Link to this post Send Email to Gojitron   Send PM to Gojitron
 
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Admiral Asshole

Posts: 10948
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Re: The Mummy


Today I watched Van Helsing and The Mummy's Tomb...I figure I'm ahead of the game emoticon

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6/10/2017, 11:51 pm Link to this post Send PM to Deinonychus AIM
 
Mako Crab Profile
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Cryptographer

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Re: The Mummy


I read that the overseas box office saved it from being a total failure, but yeah- the domestic take was abysmal. Getting stomped by movies that had already been out for a week or more.

Personally, I don't like Tom Cruise, so I don't care if his movies tank. But I do love the classic monsters, so it's disappointing to see them trip over the starting line. I even like their Dark Universe logo & just the idea of it. It's cool.

Everyone's trying to examine what went wrong here, & I think I know what it is. That first trailer left me cold. I didn't feel anything when I saw it. It looked exactly like any other action movie that Cruise has done except with a mummy in it. My exact reaction was, "whatever." And judging by the numbers, that was how most people felt.
6/13/2017, 3:26 am Link to this post Send Email to Mako Crab   Send PM to Mako Crab AIM
 
Greatshot Profile
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Posts: 4702
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Re: The Mummy


quote:

Mako Crab wrote:

I read that the overseas box office saved it from being a total failure, but yeah- the domestic take was abysmal. Getting stomped by movies that had already been out for a week or more.

Personally, I don't like Tom Cruise, so I don't care if his movies tank. But I do love the classic monsters, so it's disappointing to see them trip over the starting line. I even like their Dark Universe logo & just the idea of it. It's cool.

Everyone's trying to examine what went wrong here, & I think I know what it is. That first trailer left me cold. I didn't feel anything when I saw it. It looked exactly like any other action movie that Cruise has done except with a mummy in it. My exact reaction was, "whatever." And judging by the numbers, that was how most people felt.



That pretty much sums it up for me too. I LOVED Sofia Boutella in Kingsmen so seeing her play another badass villain, a CLASSIC villain made me excited for this, but meh. Also since, yanno, she's basically not actually a mummy for most of the movie judging from the trailers kind of seems self-defeating. :lol
6/14/2017, 9:40 am Link to this post Send PM to Greatshot
 


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