The Mummy

(Image credit: © 2017 Universal City Studios P)

Tom Cruise heads the cast of this action-horror-fantasy, but his A-list presence doesn't stop this monster-movie reboot being a hokey B-movie through and through

Tom Cruise heads the cast of this action-horror-fantasy, but his A-list presence doesn't stop this monster-movie reboot being a hokey B-movie through and through.

He's playing another one of his cocky scoundrels, a rogue US army sergeant-turned-looter who becomes possessed by an evil spirit after unearthing the tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess (Sofia Boutella).

Amid the supernatural shenanigans that ensue, Annabelle Wallis is on hand to supply archaeological expertise - and a love interest for Cruise.

Along the way, Russell Crowe pops up in a shadowy, sinister role, his initially enigmatic appearance a sign that The Mummy has been designed to launch a Dark Universe franchise out of classic Universal Studios monsters (a string of films ranging from The Creature of the Black Lagoon to The Phantom of the Opera is apparently in the works).

This effort strives to mix action, laughs and scares, but it's mostly a murky mess, lacking the sense of fun of 1999's adventure and the atmospheric chills of the original 1932 Boris Karloff classic and the 1959 Christopher Lee remake.

This movie premieres on Saturday 24 February.

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