New Cruise ‘Mummy’ starts out great, but then . . .
Yes, the leading lady is smart and British and at the center of the action, and Cruise’s looks remain on Cruise-control at a steady 35.
[...] the movie gradually gets dragged into the summer muck, with a few action sequences that look like something out of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
[...] this is a Tom Cruise movie and that means that nothing is phoned in.
Along with his partner in crime (Jake Johnson) and Jenny (Annabelle Wallis), a specialist in ancient civilizations, he stumbles onto an ancient grave site buried hundreds of feet underground.
There are carvings and eerie-looking statues and a pool of liquid mercury covering a sarcophagus.
Even from a safe seat in the audience, it looks like we should not be there.
Early on, there’s an airplane crash sequence that even tops the one Steven Spielberg devised for “Bridge of Spies” — remember that one?
This one in “The Mummy” is harrowing, with Cruise and Wallis getting thrown from one side of the plane to the other, tumbling and banging off walls, with no chance to right themselves or plan an escape.
The movie stretches out plot points that are inevitable, while failing to fill the wait time with anything imaginative or stirring.
Cruise is easy to watch, and he gets warm, passionate support from Annabelle Walls — indeed, she is as much the emotional locus as Cruise.
[...] Sofia Boutella makes a demented and seductive, single-minded and scary evil princess.
[...] though, a close call isn’t enough.
“The Mummy” is the rare Cruise film that doesn’t quite give audiences their money’s worth.