10 Movies Too Bloated For Their Own Good

If there was ever a guide on how not to establish a cinematic universe, then The Mummy is probably it. Trying to set the world record for the 100 meters before it could even walk, last year's Tom Cruise vehicle may have managed the unique distinction of being both the start and the end of Universal's Dark Universe in one fell swoop.

Rebooting the studio's iconic stable of monsters as star-driven fantasy blockbusters always seemed like a strange creative route to take, and right from the opening scene the audience is bombarded by Russell Crowe explaining in painstaking detail things that have happened, things that are happening, and things that will happen. We get it, its a cinematic universe.

Instead of focusing on delivering a crowd-pleasing blockbuster that will genuinely make people want to see where the franchise is headed, The Mummy instead looks three movies ahead and packs the narrative with plot points, Easter Eggs and references about what's in the future, which massively affects the quality of the movie.

It was foolish of the creative team to simply assume that people gave a flying f**k about their shared mythology without giving them a reason to invest over the course of The Mummy's 110 minutes, and between them the six (!) credited writers fail to find a single reason to interest people in the potential of the Dark Universe.