Universal Studios’ Dark Universe is off to a rocky start with The Mummy, released this past weekend to largely negative word of mouth and pretty dismal box office numbers. The future of the Dark Universe, needless to say, isn’t looking all that bright.
Personally speaking, however, I quite enjoyed the modern day, female-driven reboot.
Of particular note, Sofia Boutella is a stunning vision as Princess Ahmanet, Universal’s newest Mummy. If the film got one thing right it’s in the casting and design of the new character, who feels both classic and entirely new in equal measure. Most may not feel that The Mummy belongs under the Universal Monsters umbrella, but I’d argue that the character of Ahmanet damn sure does.
What would Ahmanet look like in the colorless world that fellow monsters such as Dracula and Frankenstein originally inhabited? That’s a question I asked myself last night while drifting off to sleep, so I decided to suck the color out of several key screen-grabs from The Mummy this morning. Mad Max: Fury Road and Logan recently got the black & white treatment, so why not a film with deep roots into that pre-color world?
Welcome to a new world of gods and monsters… in old world stylings!
Tom Cruise is joined in the Universal reboot by a cast including Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond), Annabelle Wallis (Annabelle, King Arthur, Peaky Blinders), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Russell Crowe and Courtney B. Vance (TV’s “American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson”).
“Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.
From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.“
Alex Kurtzman directed The Mummy.
