When you announce your new “smash hit” film franchise, maybe stay humble for a bit… until you actually succeed.
Somewhere in modern-day Iraq, American soldier Nick (Tom Cruise) lures his recon buddy Chris (Jake Johnson) out to a remote village in pursuit of treasure via a stolen map. When the location ends up being overrun with insurgents, a drone airstrike saves their bacon but also reveals the entrance to a tomb… with ancient Egyptian motifs. The US Army arrives shortly thereafter with an assumed archaeologist, Jenny (Annabelle Wallis), who demands to explore the hidden catacombs. What they find there sets in motion a series of events that will change the world or utterly destroy it… but not if the Prodigium and its mysterious benefactor (Russell Crowe) have anything to do with.
Back in 1999, Stephen Sommers wrote and directed a remake of the 1932 Universal film The Mummy, repurposing the Boris Karloff horror film into an Indiana Jones-inspired adventure with horror elements. The success of that movie and its sequels prompted Universal to dust off their remaining old monsters and load them into a similar framework; the result of that debacle was the ill-fitting and ill-fated Van Helsing — which we’ve long since forgiven Hugh Jackman for. Undeterred, Universal launched Dracula Untold, again reworking the horror into adventure and making a hero of the main villain, but the results were tepid at best with audiences although an interesting period piece and retelling. Now in 2017, Universal reboots again with their announced Dark Universe franchise and Tom Cruise headlining an all-newish Mummy film, but can a hefty price tag and star-power jump-start a feature franchise like Marvel did with Iron Man or will they be left struggling in a sandstorm the way DC/Warner Bros. have with their Justice League prequels?
Continue reading
