Horror remakes or reimaginings are a dime a dozen these days with one being released seemingly every week. Well now we have yet another one to add to that list altho this one has something that alot of others don't have and that's the fact that it has an up and coming horror director serving as it's writer and director with apparently the producer of the film having so much pull at New Line Cinema that the ALT title for this film is Lee Cronin's The Mummy which is something that the film will be getting called by in this review and so then join me as I review the film that sees The Mummy franchise return to it's original horror roots with the film in question being called simply just "Lee Cronin's The Mummy" enjoy.
The plot of this film is eight years after there daughter mysteriously disappears she is found again completely mummified but when her parents take her home she becomes more and more unhinged and it's up to her parents to work out what's wrong with her before it's to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty average at best. To be frank here this films plot is nothing more then OK as while the idea of the plot is a really good idea as having a creepy kid be the villain is something that will always be scary no matter the quality of the product but it is something that doesn't feel right for this franchise as this is a franchise that has bounced back and fourth between horror and action with them both having plots that revolve around actual mummies and that is something that this films plot doesn't have. This is something that does make it feel like that this was a script for a another film but the heads at New Line saw it and slapped "The Mummy" name on it as a way to sell us the movie and while yes the films plot is a strong plot that does support the entire film it does also rob the film of the chance to be it's own thing due to the fact that the plot of the film is filled to the brim with horror cliches all of which do bog this films plot down as it could have been a really good plot in it's own right with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Jack Reynor as Charlie Cannon , Laia Costa as Larissa Cannon and May Calamawy as Detective Dalia Zaki. Also starring in this film is Natalie Grace as Katie Cannon , Emily Mitchell as Young Katie , Shylo Molina as Sebastián Cannon , Dean Allen Williams as Young Sebastián , Billie Roy as Maud Cannon , Verónica Falcón as Carmen Santiago , Hayat Kamille as The Magician , May Elghety as Layla Khalil , Aisha Laouini as Young Layla , Husam Chadat as Detective Ismail , Mark Mitchinson as Professor Bixler , Lily Sullivan as Miss Mills , Omar El-Saeidi as Gamal Khalil , Arkin Cureklibatir as Jabari Khalil and Safi Mulki as Tariq Khalil.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The films acting in this film is something that could be described as being one of the more better things in the film which granted isn't that high of a bar to reach but considering that alot of this films actors are either unknown or vert little known actors that is still something that is quite the accomplishment, with all of this films actor including the kid actors turning in some really wonderful performances in this film. With the best actor in the whole entire film being Natalie Grace as she does make for a really creepy version of Katie something which must have been quite hard to do considering the fact that for alot of her time on screen she just has to sit there and do nothing and yet when the action does indeed ramp up she comes across as being quite terrifying to watch which is something that is quite impressive indeed and while it would have been to see more of what she could do from an acting point of view the fact that she does make for a really creepy kid is still something that is to admired as is the fact that none of the kid actors in this film come across as being annoying with them all turning in some pretty decent performances in their own right alot of which do match with what the adult actors are doing as well with the acting that's in this film not really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors anything to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
This films characters aren't all that much better sadly as none of them barring Katie for obvious reasons have anything about them that makes them interesting characters. With pretty much all of them just being the same stock horror characters that we've all seen done better in other and better horror films this is by no means a bad thing as the same thing could also be argued for the nineties The Mummy movies as well however given that they were going for more of an Indiana Jones but more modern vibe and this film is trying to return this franchise to it's horror roots there should have been more of an effort to give us some interesting characters. As there is nothing to alot of this films characters as Charlie is the typical loving dad who had a great relationship with Katie with her mother being the character that loves her family but due to this one even is now over protective of them and the rest of the films characters are just there with characters like Maud and Sebastian just basically being background characters even tho there apart of the main family heck the only interesting character in the whole film film is Katie herself and even then that's more due to what she goes through at the start of the film and not the actual writing for her character as by all rights she could have been a really dull and boring character but it's due to the fact that the film keeps her silent for alot of its running time that makes us the audience wonder what she is actually thinking with the brief glimpses that we got of her before she was taken making her out to be this really fun and bubbly kid which does contrast well with the more dark and very disturbing character that she ends up becoming.
This film helped to prove something that none of us where asking and that's the fact that this films writer and director Lee Cronin turns in his best stuff when he's being let loose. As unlike with Evil Dead Rise where he pretty much just dud whatever he wanted this film feels like there's people holding him back and telling not to go all out with the best example of this being the fact that for alot of the film there's nothing all that scary happening in the film which would be great if the film was building tension or maybe even trying to solve the mystery of what actually happened to Katie all of those years ago yet it doesn't and it's not rather it's just the character just living there normal day to day lives whist trying to adjust to suddenly having Katie back into there lives and while that is find for five maybe ten minuets of the film this is something that happens for large portions of the film. Yet if Lee Cronin was just told to go nuts and have fun with it then odds are that we would get something as fresh and new as Evil Dead Rise as case in point when this film does reach its third act it does go completely balls to the wall insane and that's when the film gets more fun to watch and where the film does get more creepy and while there is a case to be made that this films third act wouldn't work as well if the film hadn't spent alot of the time with the characters before hand which would be a fair point to make it's where the film gets to give you all of the things that you want to see from a director like this as some directors like for example Osgood Perkins are great at building up tension but Lee Cronin is one that is his best when he's being allowed to go all out and yet in this film you do get the impression that he's being told to hold back and all that does is stop this film from being as fun as it could have been and it's stops its writer and director from doing what it is that he quite clearly does best.
Look to be frank there is some good to be found but this is a case where the bad does far outweigh the good. As there are alot more negative things to be found in this film like for example for a film that's called The Mummy there's not even a proper mummy in the film with the only few hints of there being a mummy that we get in he film being in the films pretty cool opening and that's it which isn't enough to justify its title with this making it feel like the makers of this film were far to afraid of making a Mummy movie so they just had one mummy appear in the film to help to justify it's title and called it a day. With the other thing being the fact that this film does feel like a remake of Evil Dead Rise due to the fact that it does hit on alot of the same themes and even has some of the same ideas that were present in that film like for example both films have an overworked parent of two kids one of which is a teenage boy and the other is a little girl which is the exact same dynamic that they have in this film only here they have two little girls and not just the one. This does also follow the theme of family and how far family members will go to help each other out which again is something that we saw in Evil Dead Rise only in this film it is a little bit more blatant and not at all subtle as this film does hit you over the head with its messages and themes when this is something that is best left being done in a more subtle way as then we the audience would be able to have repeat viewings of the film and find out these small little details that help with those themes something upon which we are now unable to do due to how hard that the film does hit you over the head with it's messaging.
This film does try to have a mystery as the characters are all trying to work out what it was that happened to Katie when she was kidnapped all of those many years ago. Which to be fair is a good enough mystery and to be fair to the film it does do a decent attempt of hiding just what it was that actually happened to her however the film does commit to big sins when it comes to this mystery the first of which being the fact that the film doesn't offer us any clues as to what actually happened to her thus not really allowing us the audience to work out for ourselfs with this even making the big reveal come out of nowhere as the film didn't really hint at this even being a possibility. The second sin that this films commits is the fact that they outright show us that there's something supernatural at play at the start of the film which granted doesn't hurt the overall mystery aspect of the film but it is something that would have made for a really cool and scary reveal near the end of the film yet for one reason or another the makers of this film instead chose not to do that and instead chose to give us a pretty lame mystery that anyone that's even halfway paying attention could solve when the whole point of a mystery is to keep you guessing whilst also giving you subtle clues to what's actually going on. If the makers of this film did do that then it would have given those that actually like this film of sure there are most likely some people it would have given them more of a reason to come back and watch the film to try and find all of the little clues thus giving the film some replay ability value to it as then those people would be back looking for more clues and yet they don't do that therefor there is no reason to come back and watch this film as you'll just be getting the exact same expirence that you got when you first watched the film.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours and three minuets and twenty eight seconds. Which for a horror film let alone one where nothing interesting or actually scary happens for the vast majority of its running time is such a long time for this film as you very easily could have told this film in about one hour and forty minuets at a push as all you'd have to do is remove all of the pointless filler scenes and that's it, with the film even having the right amount of plot there cover that amount of running time and yet even tho this is so much more longer then what it really needed to be the film still doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot as there is nothing added to the plot that makes it feel more well thought out with it instead feeling like that the makers of this film were just making up the films as they went along due to the fact that there are alot of filler scenes with the family and there friends none of which have any impact on the plot of the film and all of which could have been cut from the film itself. This is something that does also effect the films character development as put it bluntly none of the films characters get any kind of character development in the film this is despite the fact that the film does have ample time to give them the development that they needed and while this is something that would be fine if the film was alot more shorter as then you could argue that the film just didn't have the time to fit it in here tho the film has well over two hours and yet due to the fact that the film is mostly preoccupied with filler scenes it means that we don't get to find anything about any of this films characters characters with them all being in the exact same place at the end of the film that they were at the start of the film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a horror film that really doe mean that I have to actually talk about the actual horror that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual horror that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty OK at best. Much like with the films acting this films horror is perhaps the best thing about the film as you can tell that Lee Cronin is genuinely trying to make a scary film but again it does feel like that he's being held back instead of being told to go all out due to the fact that alot of this films scares are just jump scares and that's it and that's not enough to make a film scary as while the film does have a scary villain the film does nothing with her until the third act with the mainly just using those jump scares or shots of Katie looking creepy and that's it. With the best scare in this whole entire film being the entire third act of the film as that's when it feel like that we are truly seeing the same man of who made Evil Dead Rise show us just what it is that he can do as a horror director and while nothing about the third act will spoiled here as it is something that is just pure balls to the wall insanity, with it being something that does somewhat make up for the lack of creative scares in the rest of the film due to the fact that we do get see Katie do more then just sit and look creepy as we do get to see just what it is that she can truly do in her current state with that being something that does make this film scary and yet the film didn't take as full advantage of that by having more scenes with her being this creepy when that is something that would have made the rest of film be more terrifying to watch with the rest of the films scares not being as good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall the marketing team for this film did a really good job on making this film look good as this film is nothing more then OK as all of the potential that the film does gave is bogged down by the overly long running time and pointless filler scenes that would have been better off being removed from the film entirely in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well aa all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of a exactly 5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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