The Mummy« fails to make a comeback»

Cinema Wednesdays - Hélène Lavoyer

A partner section of « Cinérevue , NeuchVox's film program. Next live: Monday, October 2, 2017, 8:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Universal Pictures, America's oldest production and distribution studio, takes us on a journey of discovery into a «dark universe» accessible in a series of films. This «dark universe» is a creative concept for discovering a cinematic universe of «gods and monsters». The idea is to bring Dracula, Frankenstein's creature and other characters to life in revisited scenarios. The first window into this universe opens with The Mummy, She is best known for the Universal Pictures trilogy, in which Brendan Fraser played the lead role.

Voilà maintenant qu’arrive au cinéma une nouvelle Mummy. Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) is an ancient Egyptian princess. The pharaoh's only daughter, she feels her destiny as queen slipping away when her brother is unexpectedly born. Mad with rage, she seals a pact with the terrible god Seth that will give her access to the throne. But before she could kill the man whose body was to serve as Set's envelope, Ahmanet was taken prisoner, embalmed and buried alive far from her homeland.

Two thousand years later, the princess' tomb is discovered by Nick (Tom Cruise) and Chris (Jake Johnson), elite members of the U.S. army and hunters of archaeological artefacts. Their path crosses that of Jenny Halsey (Anabelle Wallis), a passionate young archaeologist. While being transported to London, the mummy awakens, and she is desperate to honor her contract and find a human envelope so that Seth can come to life.

This is followed by a spectacular scene of the plane descending at breakneck speed, crashing with the mummy and Nick, who sacrificed himself so that Jenny could parachute out. Deposited in the morgue, Nick is resurrected in Olympic form. Chris's ghost (cursed by the mummy) warns Nick that Ahmanet has chosen him for Seth; she'll stop at nothing. This leads to a series of life-threatening events for Nick and Jenny, with whom he falls in love.

Entre deux explosions, le spectateur assiste à l’introduction du docteur Jekyll. Absent de la trilogie des années 1999 à 2008, son apparition est un avantage du scénario ; on y perçoit enfin une nouveauté, un risque pris d’ajouter à l’histoire un élément plus moderne. Mais le Jekyll moderne manque cruellement d’unicité. Il correspond au stéréotype du docteur fou, obsédé par son travail, à savoir trouver un remède contre le Mal, insensible à l’idée des dommages collatéraux que son but implique… bref, on est loin d’une personnalité unique.

Si les scènes d’action sont réussies et les effets spéciaux soigneusement réalisés, c’est à l’humour gras des personnages et à l’enchevêtrement de l’intrigue qu’on en veut. Les répliques censées être amusantes sont indigestes et les évènements s’enchaînent de façon mécanique. Comme si le spectateur n’avait d’autre attente que celle d’assister à un concert d’explosions et de cascades ! L’apparition soudaine et plutôt mystérieuse du docteur Jekyl et de son laboratoire est déroutante et les culbutes qui s’accumulent dès la seconde partie du film empêchent aux personnages de dévoiler une quelconque personnalité.

Evil, the good guys' fight against it, love... all these themes, exploited from so many different angles in cinema, come to the fore in The Mummy like a layer of shared lines and actions. It's hard to finish watching the film without regretting having waited for the DVD release. The introduction of the «dark universe» is saved in extremis by a quality aesthetic (we remain impressed by the special effects and make-up) and a convincing Sofia Boutella in her role as the mummy.

Write to the author: [email protected]

Photo credit: © marvelll.fr