Keep It Reel: 'The Mummy'

By Marc Woodfork

If the "Walking Dead" wanted a feature film for its franchise, then this would be it.  "The Mummy" stars Tom Cruise and is the latest re-boot of the familiar tale.  We've seen it all before.  Someone  stumbles upon an old tomb either looking for treasure or for archeology, decides to open the tomb even though somehow they know there's a curse attached to it and then the wraith of the gods wrecks havoc on the planet.

The problem with this version is there's nothing new and fresh about it.  If the "Walking Dead" and "The Ring" had a child, this would be the offspring.  Producers of the film decided to forego any story and pack as much action in it as possible.  With Tom Cruise as the lead, we expect a good amount of action but he can't save it -- too much running around being chased by zombies.  The dialogue is poor, even the parts that are meant to be funny seemed forced and badly executed.   You would expect the CGI work to be great.  It's not.  It's almost as if the SFX Department decided not to buy the latest software upgrade.

"The Mummy" falls apart very early on.  Boredom begins to creep in about seventeen minutes into the film.  I certainly would not call this a horror film.  Not one second of the movie are you frightened or worried about what's going to jump out at you.   Co-starring in the film is Russell Crowe in a role that is confusing and completely unnecessary.  When it finally ends, you'll be left wondering why this movie was made.  Leave this movie exactly where it was found: buried beneath five tons of sand.