Classic Monster Reboot - Dark Universe | Page 8 | Inside Universal Forums

Classic Monster Reboot - Dark Universe

  • Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.
Just saw The Mummy, I thought it was a fine movie, I was entertained and intrigued for whats to come. Some spoilage below.

Some of the criticism is valid, too much world building crammed into the movie. I would compare it to Batman v. Superman this way, just give me a Mummy movie with Prodigium bread crumbs, not a Mummy v. Prodigium. It does get off track at this point and struggles to find its way back.

I wanted more Sofia Boutella, her Mummy had a sinister quietness to her, that once she begins interacting with other members of the cast is lost. Tom Cruise is fine, Annabelle Wallis is fine, Russell Crowe is fine.

There's some great action scenes, some tense moments and some good special effects. IMO the direction and some of the editing just aren't on point. I highly hope that Universal gets Kurtzman off these asap (at least as director and writer) there's an unfinished quality that is pervasive in his films that has affected this as well. Good imagination but just cant wrap things up appropriately.

Again though, having said all of this I don't quite get the critical hate for this. I think most will enjoy.
 
Just saw The Mummy, I thought it was a fine movie, I was entertained and intrigued for whats to come. Some spoilage below.

Some of the criticism is valid, too much world building crammed into the movie. I would compare it to Batman v. Superman this way, just give me a Mummy movie with Prodigium bread crumbs, not a Mummy v. Prodigium. It does get off track at this point and struggles to find its way back.

I wanted more Sofia Boutella, her Mummy had a sinister quietness to her, that once she begins interacting with other members of the cast is lost. Tom Cruise is fine, Annabelle Wallis is fine, Russell Crowe is fine.

There's some great action scenes, some tense moments and some good special effects. IMO the direction and some of the editing just aren't on point. I highly hope that Universal gets Kurtzman off these asap (at least as director and writer) there's an unfinished quality that is pervasive in his films that has affected this as well. Good imagination but just cant wrap things up appropriately.

Again though, having said all of this I don't quite get the critical hate for this. I think most will enjoy.

Critical hate stems from most critics think Dark Universe is a cash grab and as well as this mummy reboot not realizing this already had nothing to do with Brendan Frasier and also this film wasn't "political" enough to save itself.
 
Critical hate stems from most critics think Dark Universe is a cash grab and as well as this mummy reboot not realizing this already had nothing to do with Brendan Frasier and also this film wasn't "political" enough to save itself.
Uh, what? Critics aren't liking the movie because it's a tonal disaster that doesn't know what it wants to be (and this is coming from someone who didn't dislike the film). One minute it's trying to be the Fraser films, and another minute it's trying to be a full out horror movie. Sometimes the tones blend together and feel VERY weird.

Anyways, the movie is performing well overseas. The Dark Universe will continue, but it needs some work done.
 
Last edited:
Uh, what? Critics aren't liking the movie because it's a tonal disaster that doesn't know what it wants to be (and this is coming from someone who didn't dislike the film). One minute it's trying to be the Fraser films, and another minute it's trying to be a full out horror movie. Sometimes the tones blend together and feel VERY weird.

Anyways, the movie is performing well overseas. The Dark Universe will continue, but it needs some work done.

One of the RT film critics post on twitter:

Trust me, not all the complaints are actually just based on the film.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RevFreako
I just got back from THE MUMMY. It's not great, but I don't think it's a total trainwreck, either. There are good elements to be found, but they're undercut by a patchwork screenplay and uninspired direction. I'm glad global box office is saving the day, because I do think the potential groundwork set down for the future has promise, and a Bill Condon-directed BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN will almost certainly be a better movie than something Alex Kurtzman directed.
 
I just got back from THE MUMMY. It's not great, but I don't think it's a total trainwreck, either. There are good elements to be found, but they're undercut by a patchwork screenplay and uninspired direction. I'm glad global box office is saving the day, because I do think the potential groundwork set down for the future has promise, and a Bill Condon-directed BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN will almost certainly be a better movie than something Alex Kurtzman directed.

Agreed. I thought it was fun - even though it had issues.

I like Cruise, but feel they should have gone younger - especially with how they are portraying his character. Also think hiring Kurtzman as a first time director was probably the wrong move if this is your "Iron Man". His track record was never great to begin with. Probably should have chosen another monster to kick off the franchise too, imo.
 
Agreed. I thought it was fun - even though it had issues.

I like Cruise, but feel they should have gone younger - especially with how they are portraying his character. Also think hiring Kurtzman as a first time director was probably the wrong move if this is your "Iron Man". His track record was never great to begin with. Probably should have chosen another monster to kick off the franchise too, imo.
The movies that Kurtzman has written have made an unbelievable amount of money. Universal probably wanted him involved hoping it would guarantee box office gold. But, he wanted a directing gig, so Universal gave it to him?
 
The movies that Kurtzman has written have made an unbelievable amount of money. Universal probably wanted him involved hoping it would guarantee box office gold. But, he wanted a directing gig, so Universal gave it to him?

Speaking from the other side (i.e. working in Hollywood), this is pretty much exactly what happened.

This is how bad movies get made.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mad Dog
‘The Mummy’: How Tom Cruise Took Control of Universal’s Flailing Movie and seemingly caused more issues

‘The Mummy’: How Tom Cruise Took Control of Universal’s Flailing Movie | Variety

Once the film was done, Cruise brought in his longtime editor Andrew Mondshein to piece together the final picture. (The film’s credits also list Gina and Paul Hirsch as editors.) He spent time in the editing suite overseeing the cutting, which everybody agreed wasn’t working. On the lot, there were differences of opinions about whether Cruise’s directions were improving a picture that had been troubled from its inception or whether they were turning a horror film into a Cruise infomercial. Some believed that Cruise had no choice but to assert himself. Given Kurtzman’s inexperience directing tentpoles, Cruise, who has carried heavily choreographed action movies all his life, had to try to rally the troops or risk having the production fall behind schedule.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mad Dog
Universal is not giving up on this monster verse. Despite the movie barely reaching its minimum benchmark, Universal is now creating Manga and video games tie ins in hopes to cover additional costs to boost the series popularity.
 
I want this thing to work out. Both as a fan of the IPs and as a fan of the parks who wants to see the monsters get an upgraded presence in the parks. Even if that means BF never gets his cup of coffee.
 
Not too much of a surprise. I suspect the underwhelming reception of THE MUMMY has forced Universal to reconsider their plans. Hopefully Condon still gets to make the film eventually.

Sets are still being built...main issue is right now the tone of the script is all over the place so Javier Bardiem and Angelina Won't sign on just yet.