Movie review: 'The Mummy' is heavy on supernatural action, light on plot
Tom Cruise unleashes an evil ancient Egyptian princess in the first film of Universal's rebooted 'Dark Universe' franchise
Cursed tombs, mummified monarchs and horror cinema have long gone hand in bandaged hand - and for good reason. The genre plays into our fascination with long-lost civilizations, but also offers all the gory nitty-gritty of imperfect resurrected corpses.
While the concept might seem dated, postcolonial anxieties and ongoing debates about the rightful home of the world's treasures could arguably provide rich grounds for an inventive, gloriously tongue-in-cheek modern Mummy movie.
Naturally enough, Alex Kurtzman's new film The Mummy, an attempt to kick off a rebooted "Dark Universe" franchise, is nothing of the sort.
It's not really a horror film at all; it's a supernatural action blockbuster. Spine-tingling chills are in short supply but there are plenty of crashes, explosions and CGI spiders.
There is also plenty of Tom Cruise. The disconcertingly youthful 54-year-old (could he be a mummy himself?) plays grave robber Nick Morton, probably described somewhere in the script as a "lovable rogue", who clashes with archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis, 22 years Cruise's junior) after stealing a map to an ancient tomb in Northern Iraq...
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