Go in with the right expectations, and you should enjoy it

I finally got a chance to watch this one last night and, you know, I'm not sure if it's because I had heard all the criticisms and went into it with the lowest of expectations, but . . . I actually kinda liked it.

It's not the '99 film. Not even close. Nothing beats the charm of that script + Fraser, Weiss, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo, as directed by Stephen Sommers. But then again, I happen to think that the '99 Mummy is one of the best adventure films ever made, and few others can match it.

If we push aside comparisons and allow Tom Cruise's version of the story to exist on its own and judge it by its own merits, I think what we have is a fairly entertaining action/adventure movie that does a pretty good job of setting up the Dark Universe and paving the way for the movies to come.

And in fact that was one of the biggest criticisms that I heard: That the movie just seems like a big set-up for the rest of the Dark Universe films. I mean, I guess it is, sort of. It definitely does hold the burden of doing that. But considering the fact that we already knew Universal was planning this connected universe, we shouldn't hold it against this film that it bears the brunt of laying the foundation for the DU. Instead we should ask: Does it do it effectively? And I think it does.

The cast I also thought did a good job. Cruise is his usual charismatic self and even plays slightly against type as a shady raider of antiquities. Annabelle Wallis suits her purpose as the respectable archaeologist/Cruise's love interest/the requisite eye candy. Russell Crowe is Russel Crowe. And I thought that Sofia Boutella, even though she actually isn't provided a whole lot of personality by the script, was good as the mummy.

One other thing I have to give the movie credit for--as silly as it sounds that we need to give a movie credit for this these days--is that the narrative is comprehensible. I can't tell you how often I watch a movie and the details of the plot just don't really seem clear. It's like, I can follow the broad strokes of the story, but on a scene-to-scene level it's hard to follow. In fact, I gave up on the Transformers series after the first film, but that's one of the biggest criticisms I've heard about the franchise: You just don't know what the fuck is going on! But with The Mummy, as long as you're paying attention the plot is clear and comprehensible every step of the way.

All in all, I think The Mummy has gotten a lot more hate than it deserves. I think the keyword to enjoying it is: Expectations. Go into it with the right expectations. Understand that it's not the '99 film. Nor is it an R-rated horror story. And yes, it is responsible for setting up the Dark Universe.

As long as you press Play while understanding all of this then I think you'll find it overall to be an enjoyable enough action/adventure film that looks good, that has some good action sequences, and that has some effective humor.

I've been thinking about a rating for this one and have been wavering between a 6.5 and 7/10. I think ultimately I'm comfortable with going ahead and handing out a 7 here.