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The movie’s official title didn’t need to be Lee Cronin’s The Mummy to tell us it was from Cronin. This movie feels exactly like his breakout major feature, Evil Dead Rise. So much so that one wonders if this wasn’t simply a repurposed Evil Dead script, as it plays out much more like an entry to that franchise than a Mummy one.
It contains many of the strengths of Rise. It has gore that is not holding back or trying to comfort the audience as major studio horror is wont to do. There are some truly gross and unnerving scenes, all the more enhanced because they often involve children, which most of us find disquieting. The Mummy also has that dark Irish humor in its sensibilities. Rise had some darker jokes, as does this one, either involving gore or certain situational jokes.
Yet where this one completely falls flat compared to Rise is, in part, the tonal issues. This film feels much more like a compromised studio project, with Blumhouse or someone jamming in more conventional big budget storytelling, and tonal beats that mostly clash with the humor and more visceral approach to gore. It feels like Cronin’s vision is fighting through the weight of muck.
To that end, The Mummy can be frustratingly mummy-free. It feels like the Egyptian connections are entirely ancillary and this certainly has nothing to do with any of the story of prior Mummy films. Again, this feels more like a Deadite or demon possession movie; indeed, the script directly states it is a demon possessing the lead child. Aside from a flair or sand or some scarabs, it feels like the mummy flavor was tossed aside.
Worst of all, though, is the near lack of characterization or plot. The lead parents, played by Jack Reynor and Laia Costa, have little to them past being worried parents. There are the barest semblances of themes of marital conflict and guilt, but they seem left on the cutting room floor of this already overly-long 134-minute work. The coexisting Egyptian investigation side plot feels tacked on as well.
Once again, The Mummy franchise has been plagued with an unsuccessful reboot. Of course, the studio hardly seems to care, as they announced a continuation of the Brendan Fraser franchise months ago. Whatever happened behind the scenes, this mummy probably should have stayed buried.
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