This incarnation of "The Mummy" solicits no sympathy from the audience. She brings the curse upon herself intentionally for selfish reasons. There's no clear explanation as to why that was necessary to obtain her goals, nor the consequences of her not completing a ritual.
Cruise takes up the majority of the screen time, and his character only serves as a target for the Mummy -- though there's no explanation given as to why the Mummy couldn't target someone else or even what exactly the consequences are of her catching or never catching him.
Other characters are brought in to tie into the upcoming Dark Universe movies, but they serve little purpose in the film other than to act as shadowy agents that know about dangers such as the Mummy. They take a page or two out of Hellboy here, but it's just dropping hints of a larger world we'll see in later movies.
Mostly the movie is chase scenes, fight scenes, and poor attempts at humor. There's some semblance of a plan the Mummy has and some hand- waving at plans to prevent her from succeeding, but the movie is mostly action and chase scenes without much tension, horror, or suspense. I didn't even get the sense that there was a time frame for stopping the Mummy or for the Mummy to capture the "hero."
I much prefer the first Brendon Fraser Mummy. He was a cursed star- crossed lover of a princess, rises and steals parts from people to make himself whole, then tries to conjure the spirit of his beloved into the body of another using a book of spells... and there's a real sense of danger, horror, and suspense. There's tension in that time is running out for the heroes to translate a different book of spells to defeat him in time.
This movie was not a BAD film. It was disappointing because it was a missed opportunity, but I did enjoy the film. It was good, but not great... and a remake meant to launch a franchise should be great. This misses the mark, and I think that's why it gets so many harsh reviews.
Cruise takes up the majority of the screen time, and his character only serves as a target for the Mummy -- though there's no explanation given as to why the Mummy couldn't target someone else or even what exactly the consequences are of her catching or never catching him.
Other characters are brought in to tie into the upcoming Dark Universe movies, but they serve little purpose in the film other than to act as shadowy agents that know about dangers such as the Mummy. They take a page or two out of Hellboy here, but it's just dropping hints of a larger world we'll see in later movies.
Mostly the movie is chase scenes, fight scenes, and poor attempts at humor. There's some semblance of a plan the Mummy has and some hand- waving at plans to prevent her from succeeding, but the movie is mostly action and chase scenes without much tension, horror, or suspense. I didn't even get the sense that there was a time frame for stopping the Mummy or for the Mummy to capture the "hero."
I much prefer the first Brendon Fraser Mummy. He was a cursed star- crossed lover of a princess, rises and steals parts from people to make himself whole, then tries to conjure the spirit of his beloved into the body of another using a book of spells... and there's a real sense of danger, horror, and suspense. There's tension in that time is running out for the heroes to translate a different book of spells to defeat him in time.
This movie was not a BAD film. It was disappointing because it was a missed opportunity, but I did enjoy the film. It was good, but not great... and a remake meant to launch a franchise should be great. This misses the mark, and I think that's why it gets so many harsh reviews.