In the third book of the Thebaid, the Roman poet Statius recalls that it was fear that first generated the gods. Among them, we often find the antagonists between good and evil, between good and bad and so on. Even in ancient Egypt this dualism was always strong and was often represented between the earthly life and the afterlife. The charm of that ancient and, in some respects mysterious civilization, is of constant relevance and cinema draws heavily. Many of its still unsolved mysteries, the secrets hidden in the pyramids such as the transcriptions of hieroglyphics have provided countless film plots and still fascinate the general public.
"The Mummy" just appeared in cinemas is signed by the director and screenwriter Alex Kurtzman, boasts a discreet production path in the fantasy action genre (Mission Impossible, Star Trek, a family suddenly etc) and therefore he is a person who knows his job well, his tricks, the right times and shots to make a gripping cinematic tale. Yet, what we have seen is somewhat perplexing, it seems to see something already known.
The film is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, the era in which Frankestein and Dracula appeared, and was signed by Karl Freund, director of photography of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. It comes out with the same title and takes up the whole track: a mummy of Princess Ahmanet, buried far from Egypt, in Mesopotamia, punished and cursed for having killed her father who was guilty of not letting her lead the kingdom. The fortuitous rediscovery of her grave opens the scenario of threats looming over humanity. The departure bodes well: we find ourselves in the midst of the ongoing war against the terrorists who are destroying the millennial historical heritage in the Middle East with machine gun shots and explosives. Soon, however, the narrative loses time and gets confused between details and unjustifiable slowness. The main protagonists, Tom Cruise and Russel Crowe, do their best to give the film a rhythm which, apart from the usual scenes of duels and fights to the last dagger with unpublished underwater zombies, produces a sufficiently poor result. The substantial difference with the first version of the film is that the mummy is a male character, the priest, and in today's one she is female (the beautiful Sofia Boutella). It would be interesting to know the reasons for the gender change.
Those who have similar films in their eyes (one for all: "Raiders of the Lost Ark") will soon forget them. Nothing to do with invention, creativity, cinematographic performance compared to illustrious precedents. The critics, so far, have not received it well. You will see at the box office.
