Universal Studios announced something last 2017 that surely stirred up The Mummy fans. They were planning to reboot the franchise. Everyone waited for the announcements of cast and plot adaptation. The fans wanted to know if their favorite actors would still make appearances in the remake or if they would be left to make do with new faces.
“The Mummy 2017” was the first installment in Universal’s planned Dark Universe franchise. With Tom Cruise in the leading role. Who wouldn’t be excited? The new public relations crew knew how to make the fans crazy over the remake, though. They held up announcements and maintained an air of mystery around the film and the new franchise it represents.
The Mummy Look
Berton did a lot of work to create the mummy. He combined live action and computer graphics, studying Arnold Vosloo’s facial features to match digital prosthetic makeup pieces on his face. Berton explained the struggle that he had experienced to achieve the perfect mummy look for Vosloo. “When you see Vosloo on the screen, that’s really him. When he turns his head and half of his face is missing, and then you can see his teeth, that’s really his face,” Berton explained.
As for the actor himself, Vosloo described his experience on The Mummy as a “whole new thing” for him. The prosthetics team had to put little red tracking lights all over Vosloo’s face so they could perfectly map in the special effects. “A lot of the time, I was walking around the set looking like a Christmas tree,” Vosloo admitted.
Varying Responses
Following its release in theatres, reactions to The Mummy were mixed. On the one hand, Rotten Tomatoes, a popular review-aggregation site for film and TV series, gave The Mummy a 57% rating. That’s a 5.7 out of 10. Most of the netizens on Rotten Tomatoes came to a consensus. “The Mummy was undeniably fun to watch, but...” But. There has always got to be a “but.” “But it’s difficult to make a persuasive argument for The Mummy as any kind of meaningful cinematic achievement.”
Metacritic even rated the film lower than Rotten Tomatoes. They only gave a 48% rating. They said that it was caused by the hoard of “average reviews.” On the other hand, the cinema records said that the audience loved the film and asked for a sequel. At the end of the day, that was what everyone behind the scenes wanted—for the audience to love and enjoy the film. Haters gonna hate.
Good or Bad?
1999 was definitely Rachel Weisz’s year. It was her first international breakthrough, thanks to “The Mummy.” People around the world fell in love with Weisz for the way she played the role. If somebody mentioned “The Mummy,” Rachel Weisz’s face would certainly come to mind. But some claim that the film committed a grave mistake in directing the actors.
Variety Magazine wrote that the actors “have been directed to broad, undisciplined performances.” They even commented that Weisz failed in acting for this film. “She strained for comedy that she can’t achieve,” the author added. It sallied forth a controversy and the fans hollered to disagree. For them, the actors did a great job portraying the roles they took.
Irreplaceable
When it came time for the third installment of the film’s franchise – The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – Rachel Weisz rejected the offer. It was said that she had issues concerning the script. Maria Bello took Weisz’s place.
With her previous horror film experience, Bello’s adjustment to the freaky franchise was smooth. But for the fans, the replacement didn’t sit well. To say that they were saddened is putting it mildly. Fans all loved how Weisz portrayed the character and couldn’t imagine Bello, or anyone for that matter, taking her place.