They may not have been the best movies of the their time, but I was a fan of Stephen Sommers’ 1999 The Mummy film that went off to spawn an even more action packed sequel (despite the horrible CGI on The Scorpion King monster at the end) and other less successful sequels and spin-offs. So when Universal Studios decided to bring back their classic monster franchise with 2010’s The Wolfman movie and 2014’s Dracula Untold film, it was only a matter of time before the Mummy would come along. Now we enter this world Universal has dubbed the “Dark Universe”, and while those two other movies should be included in it, they’ve decided that The Mummy 2017 will be the first entry. While many have left negative reviews about it, I for one thought it was a fun popcorn movie that doesn’t try to be anymore than that, and any who enjoy films like this will want to get wrapped up in this one (sorry, the pun was begging to be placed there).
Fellow movie reviewer Chris Pandolfi has all the plot details and his take on the movie from earlier this year for those interested in those points, leaving me to jump right into my take on it and the special features. As I watched this one, I could see why most people would come out not liking it. It’s predictable, it checks off all the action/adventure trope boxes (one-liner hero…check…funny sidekick-like character….check), and so on. But despite these things, I found myself seeing it for what it is…a fun action/adventure flick that you kick back with some popcorn and enjoy. It’s not trying to win an Academy Award folks, it’s just plain old fun with some pretty impressive special effects and action scenes thrown in. Tom Cruise nails it with his character, one he seems to have been portraying since his big break in the 80’s, and I actually liked Jake Johnson as his friend/sidekick character that comes off as both funny and creepy, which reminded me heavily of the main character and his buddy from “An American Werewolf in London”.
While I wasn’t able to snag a 4K review copy, the movie looks and sounds great in high definition on Blu-ray. The visuals are great, particularly the special effects and action scenes, and the audio goes along perfectly with those moments thanks to plenty of bass-filled booms and surround sound that wraps around you. Once the sand settles, you can take a look at the special features, with audio commentary from director and producer Alex Kurtzman, actors Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis and Jake Johnson kicking them off. Here they discuss working on the film and various bits about the production of the movie and other insightful info that’s fun to listen to. “Cruise and Kurtzman” is another great extra that features the actor and director talking about the making of the film and all the fun they had doing so. “Meet Ahmanet” is a cool interview with Sofia Boutella and her thoughts on playing the mummy, “Becoming Jekyll and Hyde” has Russell Crowe going into his wild but awesome take on the classic character, and there’s also a few extras going into Tom Cruise performing his own stunts for the film, going behind the scenes on some of the action moments, and some deleted scenes that fill out the rest of the features.
If you’re looking for a fun, no-frills action/adventure movie you can kick back with family and a bowl of popcorn in tow, you’ll want to pick up a copy of The Mummy 2017 for your Blu-ray collection. Yes, you’ve seen movies like this a hundred times before, and some even done better, but it still doesn’t change that this movie is a fun thrill ride that anyone can get wrapped up in.
