The Mummy reviewed by Mark Kermode

Mark Kermode reviews The Mummy. An ancient curse is awakened from an Egyptian crypt.
Please tell us what you think of the film -- or Mark’s review of the film - below. We love to include your views on the show every Friday.
www.bbc.co.uk/5live
Fridays at 2pm on BBC 5 live.

[@jared7237]

"I'm a bit universed out." That is the quote of 2017

[@Sapphonouveau]

Still far too relevant in 2019...

[@493HZ]

@@Sapphonouveau I think with Endgame out the way we won't universed again for a while

[@OptimusDelta]

@@493HZ marvel is coming with those shows and star wars too..so much oversaturated with contents

[@strangechicken]

"And the business being?" "Exposition, Mr. Morton"

[@hermioneziggeraut7617]

Aaron Ducker Someone should do a secret society exposition superrcut. 'Well, let me explain, Mr. Protagonist. No one is supposed to know about our vast and well funded operation, but since you have stumbled in the door, let me tell you everything.'

[@0axel078]

"Eleventy-stupid." That's fantastic, I've got to use that.

[@patgogan7324]

Makes the Brendan Fraser one look like Laurence of Arabia

[@493HZ]

This killed me

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

Russell Crowe bears an uncanny resemblance to Ricky Gervais' David Brent character in this. I half expect him to glance at the camera and say "...in a way" at the end of each sentence, or refer to "little mummy fellers"

[@niallh4194]

I am still trying to understand why Universal hired 6 writers for this

[@LsArts]

you dont hire that much writers unless the script is no good. at times like that they usually get people like Damon Lindelof to try and fix it; which seldom happens (Prometheus, tomorrowland, WW Z).

[@niallh4194]

Universal need to remember what made them a good studio in the first place: Good directors and writers

[@taliaprice1909]

Everyone wants a piece of the pie. It the same problem with Spectre, that film had 4 writers.

[@yandibreaux1535]

Apparently this film was a D.O.A since development began; April 2012 this film was officially announced and Jon Spaihts lead the charge as the first screenwriter.By the time the film settled on Alex Kurtzman as the director, the film had announced another screenwriter writing a competitive draft (which they ultimately scrapped), two directors walking from the project, and rumors of Christopher McQuarrie's involvement due to casting Tom Cruise (which turned out to be true).Jon Spaihts remained among the longest known contributors to the film, and only received a story credit.

[@nicholasdickens2801]

Malt454 Sadly that's Hollywood. Writing by committee.

[@hugemoose101]

I'm here all year for Simon's face whenever the dull action films come up! Says what we're all feeling.

[@SpaceCowboy5]

It's a shame Universal didn't go horror instead of action. It might have been pretty good

[@Jeffrey314159]

It was a good film, could have been a great movie, Tom Cruise is what ruined it!

[@eigengrau867]

Tom Cruise in 'The Color Of Mummy'.

[@PaddySlattery]

Mummy Impossible

[@Br1an37]

Show me the Mummy!!

[@timothyw98]

Mummy buisness

[@gamestation9437]

LOL

[@gamestation9437]

THUMBS UP WHAT ???

[@nicheman3612]

I love the contemptuous "really?" at the end

[@videogamenostalgia]

"lumpen" is a phenomenal word

[@PauLtus_B]

0:47 I feel exactly the same.

[@hinhwood1629]

The leads are charmless in this. Razzies for Cruise and Wallis. Fraser and Weisz were great in the '99 version.

[@khieng]

The Mummy Impossible

[@gamestation9437]

TUMBLEWEED

[@RADMANRB]

Would love to hear Marks thoughts on Wonder Woman

[@adventlife]

The video went up a few days ago

[@childofnature4402]

He said that he enjoyed it on the Podcast. The "punch up" at the end lost him a bit, but on the whole he liked it.

[@adventlife]

Oh, you're right, my mistake.

[@jadasheekstyles2000]

Kermode Uncut, We Demand IT!!

[@nicholasdickens2801]

RADMANRB I would too. Every year there's always a big blockbuster film I'd love him to review and he doesn't lol! Holidays Grrr ;)

[@DavidHeffron78]

I hated this film. It's possibly the most cynical film I've ever seen. The tedious voice overs are designed so that the film can do well in the foreign markets. Because most of a films profit comes internationally, they have to structure it so that large parts can be easily redubbed. Or have plot points that other markets might find offensive easily chopped out. It's why the mummy is found in Iraq. Not a huge film market. But because there are no pyramids in the background it can become anywhere. Sad.

[@Thy_Boss]

3 years, and no one even mentioned where you copied your opinions from, nearly word for word. Sad.

[@nunouno001]

Was anyone calling out for a new Monsters Cinematic Universe?

[@mroctober2978]

1) Universal pictures 2) ........ I'll get back to you on that.

[@whitehorsedown6499]

I would watch it if the main character was Alan Partridge. Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan? DAAAN?? Wait That's not Dan ITS A MUMMMMMMMY RUUNNNN HES A MENTALIST!!!

[@ince55ant]

how much running does tom cruise do? thats usually the best factor to use when measuring how tom cruise a movie is. Dude just sprints everywhere rather than cutting to the location.

[@Thy_Boss]

I thought it was a bit on the nose to cast Tom Cruise in the role of the blushing princess from the original.

[@ChrisisisB]

Reupload where you do not have to turn up the volume to "eleventy-stupid" and listen intently to hear what is said. Thank you.

[@docholliday4292]

After the excellent Penny Dreadful tv series and the CGI bore of Dracula Untold, no thanks Universal, your Dark Universe looks dull as dish water.

[@michaelsciortino5225]

Wish I was listening to his thoughts in regards to Wonder Woman

[@BunnyMan456]

2:48 There's NO business like EVIL business, like EVIL business, I KNOOOOW

[@michaelgreene4816]

Refreshing to see mr. Kermode not wear the suit today.

[@captaincokecan]

One day Brenda fraser will remake the remake of the mummy. And all will be right in the universe

[@Thy_Boss]

What a horribly depressing comment

[@peter7181]

Love your reviews Mark.

[@TomTomTom87]

The movie had no heart....Bring back Brendan Fraser!

[@PirateZ1]

Thanks for reupload!

[@WAAAAAAAAAAAY]

If they ever do another Austen Powers they gotta get Russel Crow to be in it and do that accent......and possibly sing ha :)

[@mm9773]

6:04 I didn’t hate it either, and I don’t subscribe to the idea that hating a film is better than going “meh”, because at least hate is a reaction. No, I’d rather kill time watching a mediocre movie than being upset because a movie is worse than it could be, or worse than I wanted it to be.

[@JillSubwaySandwich]

I feel like I was waiting for this review ever since the movie was announced.

[@richardmattocks]

What's with the "office cubicle" style studio? Seeing the cables at the back and below-par mic's has me wondering if the BBC is broadcasting from a cheap office block these days?

[@sossenvideos572]

Hi mark will you be reviewing TAD the explorer and the curse of the mummy?

[@movieman82us]

I don't get what is so bad about Russell Crowe's accent. I thought he sounded fine.

[@jackthompson3453]

The Crummy.

[@jwnj9716]

Well The Rock was huge in the 90s, weird that's how he first heard about him from a movie.

[@amcaesar]

This may be a massive creative failure, but I'm sure the $1B it makes in Beijing and Shanghai will ensure we keep seeing these again and again.

[@shenyongo]

Mark sounds so depressed and uninterested in doing this review. That tells me just how much I should avoid this.

[@mustsilm]

Why are they filming in 1970s space control room?

[@2chickenbone]

its basically Mummy Impossible. Poor film.

[@rexmundi2237]

Just what the world needs - yet another rehash of The Mummy for the umpteen millionth time. Should have been left undisturbed in its cinematic crypt.

[@stevethompson1421]

The moment I saw the first trailer for this, I feared the worst. I said back then and I say it now, this is trying to sell a movie off the back of big names like Cruise etc. Universal Horror should not be about the names in it, it should be about the creature/monster itself and be sold on that basis. Give it bags of atmosphere and genuine horror (I don't mean blood and gore). It's an action movie in the super hero style, masquerading as a horror movie. Universal was NEVER about outlandish action set pieces and major special effects. Get back to basics and drop the big names. Here's a thought ... maybe the new Hammer studio will come along and do it properly. ;)

[@Cybjon]

RedLetterMedia compared it to 'Lifeforce.'

[@molesticles]

I hated this movie. It's the laziest script since the new XXX, but that wasn't taking itself seriously in the slightest. I feel bad for everybody who had to work on this movie because the script is so terrible and cliche'd.

[@4Everlast]

Fits perfectly with Dracula untold, visually and generally bland and dry AF.

[@johnboy1536]

I'd rather be a Scientologist than watch this.

[@MrGlenbw]

'....literally the moment Crowe opens his mouth, I went, "REALLY?"' I guess Mark can't get Javert out of his head, huh?

[@visionaryventures12]

7:07 Congratulations, Mark. You've (perhaps inadvertently) quoted from the movie. Ha Ha.

[@chumptown259]

Wasn't this film reviewed over a year ago or was that a similar film?

[@andrewfindlay1389]

well considering this was on in production back then I'm assuming a similar film

[@chriswilson3126]

Mark please can we hear your thoughts on wonder woman.

[@mroctober2978]

reuploaded... amen to that.

[@ggfffgggds]

Low budget horror remakes that honor the style of the source material. That's the way to do these classic horror movies. And you don't necessarily need to put them in the same universe.

[@taistelutomaatti]

Thank God that Tom Cruise/H.P Lovecraft vehicle didn't work out.

[@tibne2412]

call of hubbert

[@Keyser666]

Thank Ridley Scott for making Prometheus first.

[@NodDisciple1]

But Guillermo Del Toro was going to be in charge. Unlike a lot of folks in Hollywood (such as the infamous Bay) Del Toro actually shows respect for the original material, as shown in the Hellboy Flicks.

[@planespeaking]

Crowe is the accent meister

[@Burgmannn]

It's at least a little bit scary, and pretty dark for such a widely released movie.

[@vj9021]

In trying to make a new series you realise how good Iron Man had to be & importance of casting. I watched thinking can I see Russell Crowe's movie as ##### (check his characters name) instead. As it was promoted with images of actors/actresses for there future movies, maybe if they came 1st this could have helped this? Creepy eyes, best bit.

[@lw3646]

Oh boy...

[@johnredfern448]

I cant believe you think that the wonder woman film is not paint by numbers. Why?

[@nicholasdickens2801]

So wanted to see this. Now I've heard it's all meh! :(

[@simonsaysrewind]

risky mummy business ☺

[@mm9773]

Is he saying “suckoffagus” on purpose?

[@dalhar20]

bad, bad also, the darkest universe is the one in which I saw this movie

[@AnalogueDad]

Is Russell Crowe even doing an English accent? He's doing such a hack job, you can barely tell.

[@littleaussierippa]

Russel Crowe sounding like Russel Crowe.

[@dennismason3740]

@kermodeandmayo - I love elliptical coffee tables. Now here is a mustard coffee table because if you spill the mustard despite all BBC rules nobody will notice. So the BBC understands the beauty of fung shui geometry and was raised in grey tones hence mustard table. Again the ellipse rocks.

[@J0n0tanII]

Top Mum(my)

[@ShreeNation]

Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was better than this film. That says a lot.

[@nickmattio3397]

Sooo ur sayin Tom "Cocktail" Cruise is back with the Need For Speed! Owww!!! Boooyaaa!!!! Lol

[@dennismason3740]

@kermodeandmayo - ...and you're ok with the new color scheme in your BBC cubicle? Please tell me it's temporary.

[@hellsong23]

A quid will get ya 10 that he rides a motorbike in the film.

[@francesca3453]

Great review, your instincts are correct... Tom Cruze is only in the film to create himself as an otherworldly dark creature. The whole movie is designed to placate the need of this enormous ego. He ruined it. (Remember Oblivion... he meets himself...) See my meaning.

[@PauLtus_B]

I dare to disagree without having seen this movie: It's not the fault of Tom Cruise. It's people not giving a character to Tom Cruise.

[@simonmaxwellstewart]

It actually is Tom Cruise's fault, at least partly. A lot of hardcore Scientologists are only allowed to watch one film every year or so- a Tom Cruise vehicle. Consequently, he's made a point to only play brazenly heroic/decent/vanilla characters so as not to disappoint his fellow Scientologists watching him. Were he allowed to let some moral ambiguity seep in there, his films might be more interesting, if perhaps a little dispiriting for those couple of thousand Scientologist brethren wanting their hero to be all heroic by doing heroic stuff heroically. Not that I watch many of them, but I suspect Edge of Tomorrow may have been one of the rare recent Cruise vehicles to slip through that whole process with its dignity intact.

[@TheMikenanners]

Simon Maxwell-Stewart except Tropic Thunder of course. Good story

[@scotsbillhicks]

A _____ procedural?

[@EnzoTheBaker]

All the money Universal made for the Fast & Furious movies was wasted here! Now they need Despicable Me 3 to be huge success to make up for things.

[@jjgoldstein7310]

Kermode for christ sake spit it out your review is all over the place

[@bluesjazznotes9436]

The only good thing I found about this film is the mummy itself who was great although she made some stupid decisions sometimes just like the rest of the cast, there was a scene on a plane where TC disarm a soldier in Bourne fashion and yet shoots someone threatening him with a knife 3 times, the tone is confused and I failed to connect with it, there was another scene in the infamous plane where the blond girl actually looks at the camera and they didn't even bother to re-shoot the scene, I guess it tells you everything you need to know about this film.

[@PeteCarlton]

Has there ever been a Tom Cruise movie that wasn't about Tom Cruise?

[@PeteCarlton]

!! Good point, if pedantic :-)

[@PeteCarlton]

I'll take your word for it!

[@Jeffrey314159]

In that Ben Stiller & Robert Downey vehicle: Tropic Thunder! Tom plays a fat balding movie mogul

[@piersrutterford7639]

Tomummy

[@phoneboxchicken4108]

Has Tom Cruise actually been in a good film? Collateral was good I suppose, but I can't think of another one I liked.

[@warlockofwordschannel7901]

However, if you wished Tom Cruise was in more supernatural and dark fantasy stuff because you love Legend and Interview With The Vampire, then this is a good addition to the ranks.

[@andyg9835]

'The Mummy' is a bit of a mess. One moment it's a war film, the next it's horror, the next it's a romance, the next it's a full on comedy, etc, etc. It is incredibly stupid and not that engaging. The script is terrible, but I reckon there's enough in it to make most teenagers happy. 2/5

[@nosuchthing8]

Here is the problem in a nutshell. Comic book movies are derived from their source, comics. Comics that did well, thrived. Those that did not withered away. Not unlike natural selection. But what was the driving force behind their evolution? It was human interest. Comic writers basically created random plot ideas, not unlike genetic algorithms. But human minds were the selection criteria. So after half a century there were many interesting stories created. No such mechanism exists for the monster verse. That's why the movie seems flat.

[@BenjWarrant]

No, the movie seems flat because the script is awful: the plot is dull and the dialogue is clunky. A good writer with a free hand could make a good mummy film like falling off a log; everything is already there. I'm pretty sure that - like Dustin Hoffman - Cruise has his own script guy, which may explain why this film became Mission Impossible with monsters.

[@blueconcretezebra]

I don't know why anyone is disappointed, it's a Tom Cruise movie. Extras in soap operas give more persuasive performances...

[@bazzoman510]

American made looks good,forget the mummy.

[@NovaJake360]

That clip didn't look too bad.

[@haveanotherpinacolada]

I don't Alex Kurtzman has been involved in anything good.

[@luke-alex]

Fringe

[@haveanotherpinacolada]

@@luke-alex not familiar with it. Worth checking out? Change my opinion on him?

[@luke-alex]

@@haveanotherpinacolada Well it's one of my favourite TV shows, so I certainly recommend it!

[@TheWheelofLife100]

Why hire a kiwi,come Australian to play an Englishman,why not use a English actor?

[@BenjWarrant]

The English actors read the script and were all 'busy' when filming would take place. 'But we haven't told you when filming will be'. 'I'm still busy.'

[@chrishiggins7166]

The film’s attempts to reboot its previous versions are unnecessary as the film’s poorly casted, unfocused confusing & is overall an unnecessary reboot. (18%) (1/5 stars) (negative)

[@rickewilde]

Simon Mayo always looks bored during Kermode reviews.

[@jwnj9716]

True, I don't even know if he ever watched a movie, probably just trailers or posters.

[@jwnj9716]

So the Ghostbusters 2016 actually had a good script, plot, "humor"?.....huh?

[@GaiashKetoji]

It did.

[@almanacofsleep]

it didn't

[@NodDisciple1]

I sometimes think I'm the only person in existence that enjoyed this film. I've only seen critics tear it to shreds.

[@SubKiller]

nah....a lot of us loved the new approach! just that critics want the old approach instead

[@JohnRWMarchant]

Crowe is the only good thing in this film.

[@knownpleasures]

If he thinks utter rubbish like Wonder Woman is better then he has own issues in film taste !!

[@ajr99893]

You've got dead ears, Mark. Dead ears.

[@KSRugby]

i thought the film was ok, not special by any means, but not too bad

[@Jeffrey314159]

This film has been misjudged by the critical intelligentsia, but it is still not a great film, for it could have been better. In the end, I was sympathizing for antagonist Princess Ahmanet, and no one else. Tom should never have been cast here because in this film he's just Tom Cruise. He sucks the oxygen out of the room, not because of his talent but because of his star power and ego! The film became a Cruise vehicle - - get it ;-) If they make a sequel, which is less than likely, they have to get rid of Tom, and bring back Sofia Boutella at all costs!

[@pauladams1915]

Why does Mayo always look bored. Very rude and distracting. Just give mark his own show

[@paradoxacres1063]

I (kinda) wish they had just made an *Tomb Raider/Uncharted* type film instead, to be honest. You know, just a ridiculous, globe-trotting action adventure film with Tom Cruise & Russell Crowe that doesn't take itself seriously. Oh well. We'll always have the Brendan Fraser films.

[@rikksingh4903]

this wasn't a bad film the story line could have been.done better

[@ericbouza854]

This movie deserves only one word: SUCKS!

[@w.m.aslam-author]

This movie was so unforgettable. I hope they don't make another one, we need more originality, franchises are running out of steam. Russell Crowe and Tom Cruise couldn't even save this terrible film.