Tom Cruise has been a household name since the 80s, when he quickly began dominating Hollywood, appearing in everything from Risky Business to Top Gun to Days of Thunder (which is finally getting its sequel, nearly 40 years later). He threw the goths a bone in the 90s as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, and since then has helmed more action-thriller franchises that anyone thought possible (all while doing his own stunts), with wildly popular titles like Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher under his belt. With all that and more, there were bound to be a few duds. And this film, which is leaving HBO Max in the coming weeks, is certainly one of those duds.
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In 2017, a new horror franchise was attempted, with Cruise front and center. The flagship film in the franchise-that-would-never-be was The Mummy, and it was wholly different than the one we’d come to know and love thanks to Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. Starring Cruise alongside Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, and Jake Johnson (with a cameo by Russell Crowe), The Mummy centered around a man named Nick Morton (Cruise) who made his living as a soldier of fortune, plundering ancient sites and grave robbing his way into a comfortable life. But when Nick and his partner Vail (Johnson) are attacked in the Middle East, their fight to survive unearths Ahmanet (Boutella), a betrayed Egyptian princess entombed beneath the sand for thousands of years. Morton and Vail, alongside archaeologist Jenny Halsey, must now put a stop to her before she destroys the earth in her search for revenge.
The Mummy Very Clearly Failed to Live Up To Its Potential
While not willing to step as far into horror territory as Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, the most recent attempt to make a narrative surrounding the mythological mummy terrifying, this version of the IP attempted to bring together big-name stars, huge action scenes, and horror in what the studio hoped would later go on to become the next League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-esque ensemble franchise called the Dark Universe. It didn’t even come close, earning a 15% critics’ score and an only slightly less depressing 35% from casual viewers. Critic Matt Brunson called it “a plastic product made by mercenaries, pimps and profiteers rather than filmmakers who give a damn.”
And critics weren’t the only ones with a harsh opinion of the failed franchise soft-launch, proving that even Cruise’s attempt to portray a more morally gray Indiana Jones couldn’t save this movie. “The 2017 reboot is a mediocre experience that fails to capture the magic of the original franchise. It is a visually messy and unpolished production that feels more like a generic action vehicle than a true horror film, proving that even a massive budget cannot save a disjointed script,” said one viewer. But if you’re looking to kill some time, we can’t stop you from pulling up HBO Max and giving this version of The Mummy a try.
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