Despite the title, "The Mummy" spends too much time preparing us for the upcoming "Dark Universe" instead of focusing on the main plot. When the film starts, it serves us the entirety of Ahmanet's past, which ruined the mystery of her character, and ends up making the adventure feel pointless. Once she's been established, the rest of the film is either "Mission Impossible" (and I'll admit those scenes helped keep the film at least entertaining), or just prolonged exposition about "Dark Universe" stuff. As for the main plot, it tries to capture the intrigue of the original 1932 story, and the excitement of the 1999 film, but it only ends up a contrived mess. This is why I have an issue with the cinematic universe. Good stories get sacrificed for this bigger picture, and they never go anywhere. Here's to hoping they give the other classic monsters the screen time and storytelling they deserve. All this film needed was a little thing called patience. It's a shame they decided to rush it.
Review of The Mummy
