THE MUMMY (2017)

Genre: Action / Horror
Running Length: 1:50
Cast: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Screenplay: David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie and Dylan Kussman

Tom Cruise's THE MUMMY has a few memorable moments but the narrative is so inconsistent it feels like the writers borrowed heavily from an assortment of ideas and stitched it clumsily together. End result: a Frankenstein monster (UUUUUGGGGHHH...)

Perhaps it's a case of too many cooks spoil the broth (the writing talents here is insane), coupled with an incapable director. The soundtrack seems off. And there were unnecessary roles like Russell Crowe's character and Jake Johnson's. And don't get me started with the poor casting; a weak and irritating female protagonist who actually plays an important role to Cruise's character motivation. As for Sofia Boutella's mummy, she is not even menacing.

As for Maverick himself, Mr Cruise as we all know, is always 101% committed to the moment and the audience can feel his intensity. Whether he's acting (boggle-eyed, doing the "What.The.Hell..." expression, screaming) or running or even flashing his signature smile, he is ALWAYS ALL IN. Even so, he is totally miscast here. It would be an interesting choice though if he played a supporting role in this movie, perhaps Russell's character. Hmmm...

I supposed the main goal of The Mummy is to kickstart a Marvel MCU / DC DCEU multi-movie crossover franchise with classic monster characters like Dracula, The Wolfman and yes, Frankenstein monster but judging from the supposedly lacklustre box office taking and the horrible reviews it's currently receiving, I am not sure this would be happening anytime soon.

Well, compared to the Brendan Fraser's 1999 The Mummy, at least that was was fun in a National Treasure / Indiana Jones-ish way.

RATING: 5.5/10

INFERNO (2016)

Genre: Thriller/Adventure

Running Length: 2:01

Cast: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Ben Foster, Ana Ularu

Director: Ron Howard

Screenplay: David Koepp, adapted from the novel by Dan Brown

INFERNO; how could so many well meaning and experienced talent (David Koepp who wrote Jurassic Park, The Hans Zimmer, The Ron Howard and The Tom Hanks) produced such a convoluted movie? Probably the source of the material is to be blamed. It seems to ring true that Dan Brown's novels offers his readers excitement and always something to learn but it just doesn't hold up well under scrutiny.  

So when it's adapted to the big screen, the plot holes and logic (or the lack of it) are amplified. And to be honest, right from the very first movie, the casting of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon (the hero in Brown's books) was a big mistake. Hanks doesn't come across as charming or learned but instead, he comes off as your regular nice guy in a suit with a perpetual frown. Even after three movies, Hanks hasn't grown into Langdon's shoes.

As for Inferno's plot, a billionaire mad scientist with a cult following is trying to save the world from overpopulation by culling off 50% of its population. He believes by doing so, beauty will rise from the ashes just like how the Black Plague sparked the Renaissance. And so, he created an apocalyptic airborne virus that will wipe out a good portion of the population in no time. 

What's puzzling is instead of releasing it himself, he has left clues for his followers to find it and set it off. Yepp...And that's where our code breaker expert + history buff uncle comes in. Langdon's mission is to go on a scavenger hunt to locate the virus before our mad man's followers reach it first. His first clue is Botticelli's famed Map Of Hell painting, inspired by Dante's epic poem Inferno. And off he goes with Felicity Jones' character into a race against time + sight-seeing trip of sorts (Florence, Venice, Istanbul) by following the breadcrumbs.

To be fair, it has its fun moments and it has Irrfan Khan, who steals the show whenever he's on screen. I would suggest for you to read the book instead. At least, the book's resolution did not have a Hollywood ending like what they did to this movie. Or just re-watch Indiana Jones or even Nicholas Cage's National Treasure.  

Rating: 5.5/10