Universal Pictures is going back to its iconic monster movie franchises to unleash the Dark Universe on fans everywhere. This collection includes the revival of some of the studio’s classic monster characters for our current times and is scheduled to eventually include the Bride of Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and Frankenstein, to name a few. But first up in the Universe, a new take on the classic tale of The Mummy.
Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) is a soldier of fortune who likes to search for hidden treasures. Along with his partner Chris (Jake Johnson), he’s made a nice side business out of looting finds in Iraq. When the search for some easy money goes wrong, Chris calls in an airstrike that unearths an amazing find: a crypt that appears to be trying to hold something or someone in — like an ancient burial prison.
When Jenny (Annabelle Wallis) arrives on the scene, she immediately takes control of the archaeological side of things. What they have unearthed is a mystery, and it must be moved to a lab for study, or lost forever. The crew quickly boards a transport plane for the research facility in London and tries to beat an incoming dust storm. They are soon greeted by countless birds that seem to be trying to stop them. It is evident there are darker forces at work here.
The crypt is home to Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), the princess who massacred her family for power. Now she has been released, and Nick seems to be her chosen one to help bring the evil of Set (who some believe to be the embodiment of Satan himself) to life in human form. Before being mummified, Ahmanet called on Set to help her gain power and was prepared to bring him to life. Now in the present day, and after being unleashed, her mission still is clear: bring this baddest of the bad to life in human form. Will Nick be able to keep himself free of the ancient princess and her attempts to use his body for her evil wishes?
Maybe Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) has the answers and maybe he doesn’t, but he is leading the investigation and wants to get to the bottom of Nick’s involvement and Ahmanet’s interest in him. Will anyone survive, or will ancient terror be unleashed on London?
Monster movies are classic pieces of film history. The Mummy has seen versions from 1932 with Boris Karloff to the more recent rendition in 1999 with Brendan Fraser, with countless other incarnations and sequels in between. So where does the Cruise version rate? Well, let’s say it it is a good “bad” movie.
I want to see where the Dark Universe goes from here. It was good to see Cruise along for the ride, but he seemed out of place. And that was much like everything here — it just seemed a bit off and, as best as I can tell, it was a bit off.
We are definitely scaring up a new mummy, but the more exciting thing is where we go from here.
The Mummy is available On Demand beginning Sept. 12. Check your cable system for availability.