The Mummy/Dark Universe - What Happened?

#themummy #darkuniverse #mattmcmuscles

[DerpinPON]

Guillermo Del Toro continues to have the best "almost made it" filmography ever.

[Domino]

Honestly, the Brendan Fraser version of The Mummy was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a theater. A lot of movies are missing that fun factor.

[HellaBeed]

That isolated clip of Cruise screaming will NEVER not make me laugh. Also, all the Guillermo del Toro projects that have failed to get off the ground never fail to depress me with thoughts of what could have been...

[stanleyhercules]

"How can you be sexier... THAN THIS" shows OG mummy cast, so damn true

[Zenlore]

The best things to come out of the Dark Universe aren’t even part of it: The tie-in game, and The Invisible Man.

[crossbones]

Here lies the Dark Universe:
It never scored.

[brianvaira]

11:30 There is a scene in the movie where Russel Crowe's character refers to Tom Cruise's character as a "young man." Tom Cruise is two years older than Russel Crowe, it would not surprise me if Cruise rewrote some of the script.

[demonmurphy]

The Bulk and Skull theme over Kurtzman’s credits is fucking amazing dude

[GenerationWest]

The Dark Universe, like many company studios, try to force together a cinematic universe, and like those companies, failed, because... DON'T. RUSH. SHIT!
Also helps to make the first movie, and first set of movies, good. Honestly, there are SO MANY movie franchises you can do trying to ape Marvel's success, because they're still trying lol

[Eva-jyqupur]

This “film” was 99% an advertisement for a stupid cinematic universe no one cares about and 1% a Mummy movie

[michaelmanning]

I was having a bad day and now hearing that Del Toro had the opportunity to create Monster Universe is heart breaking

[shadow]

6:53 Man I feel dirty even being reminded of it.

[bittybears]

That Dark Universe was a massive bomb, but Mummy Demastered was the best thing that came out that concept, and if they made more movies, I would definitely want Wayforward to make more games around it.

[rohankishibeandpinkdarkboy]

"Everyone's favorite himbo"
And Matt finally hits me with the cold truth that's been staring at me all these years, Rick o' Connell IS A HIMBO.

[niksteve]

Shit dude that Mummies Alive theme at the end brought back so many memories.

[WillRipamonti]

Marvel Studios: "Let's tie things together with some post-credits stingers and a couple recurring characters then let's see how we do with an Avengers movie."
Universal: > SMEARS A BIG SMELLY "DARK UNIVERSE" LOGO IN FRONT OF EVERYTHING<

[fieryphoenix]

I feel two mistakes were made with the Dark Universe.

1.) Tom Cruise

The believability of a film always rests with the cast chosen to play the characters. Which is why I believe casting Tom Cruise for the lead was a mistake. In several of Steven Spielberg's films, the casting choices really brought out the believability of the film. Films like Jaws, E.T, even Jurassic Park had actors that weren't really as known throughout the movie industry, with the most known usually being a supporting role, like Samuel L. Jackson. Making casting choices like this make the characters seem more like everyday people, something they said about the actors in Jaws. Tom Cruise is just too big of a name in the film industry, especially in the action genre. Not only that, but with the Brendan Fraiser films, he really pulled off that whole adventurous look. Tom Cruise on the other hand, just made this film come off as just another one of his action films.


2.) Opening the franchise with The Mummy

When it comes to classic horror, whether it's Film or Literature, I think of Dracula or Frankenstein. So it seems like it would have made far more sense to open with one of those characters. I'm well aware of the classic Mummy film that stared Boris Karloff, but even then, it doesn't make much sense to me to kick off a franchise about Universal's classic horror flicks with the Mummy. The Mummy as a bad guy comes off more as a side villain next to Dracula or The Wolfman. It would be like if the DC Universe began with Aquaman or Marvel with Black Panther.

[maugos]

Darn, I was hoping you'd show the clip where the mummy punches Tom Cruise into the air. It's such a Loony Toons moment. makes me laugh every time.

[cormoran]

"It wasn't what I wanted it to be" - Alex Kurtzman, destroyer of IPs.

[steampunker]

This one really does hurt. With the DCEU you can see some legit passion and love for the source material, as misguided and poorly executed as it was. With the Godzillaverse they at the very least got the feel and vibe of the monsters right. But with the "Dark Universe" it literally feels like someone said "Just slap the name on the marquee and we'll work out the actual movies later." It was all, from frame one, about branding and hype than anything approaching any actual substance.

Now it would be easy (and probably not entirely incorrect) to say the first stumbling block was casting Cruise of all people for the official outing. But even Space Jebus himself was only a symptom of a far deeper and far more damaging problem at the root of the whole venture. A self imposed blind spot that crippled things from the get go and made every decision after only worse. And it was namely this: Yes, strictly speaking Universal did do the whole 'Shared universe" with its monsters before. Yes, monster mashes of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, the Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback, Jekyll and Hyde, The Invisible Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon comes with it a baked in and hardcore ready made audience and fanbase who would indeed pack theaters and buy merch. But here is the trick, the thing that stands in the way of that sweet, sweet franchise cash cow...

These are not superheroes. These are monsters.

Classic monsters sure. Monsters diluted by time, cultural shifts, and ubiquity of course. But they are the stars of the show. The things people are supposed to come and see. What big ticket actors you get to play them isn't important. What headliners you have facing them isn't important. If you are going to make a "Dark Universe" the first and foremost thing that has to be up front and center is making a good and mostly importantly scary, monster movie. We're not there to watch Ethan Hunt make his Mr. Intensity face or Russel Crow be overpaid to give exposition. We're there to watch a living curse exact unholy vengeance on those who dared to disturb its rest and looking scary, gross, and mind blowing doing it. And that's where the Dark Universe utterly fumbled the ball right out the gate.

You want a scary Mummy movie? Team of excavators gets stuck in an underground temple complex and are systematically picked off one by one by...something as they try to find a way out. Crank up the closed off, claustrophobic vibes. Play with the audience expectations as if what's hunting our meatbags really is mystical or mundane. Have the few survivors get out only to end up black bagged and boxed by some shadowy organization or individual that hints there are other such horrors out there. Boom. Done. You can't tell me you couldn't get 90 minutes and under a cost of 75 million movie from that.

And from there? This isn't nearly has hard or complicated as some apparently think it is. Dracula is a stalker and sexual predator who passes on blood born disease. A walking plague psychological manipulator who plays with your fears and mind. Frankenstein is the story of a man who played god and unleashed ruin on his life through his own hubris and refusal to take responsibility for what he wrought. The Wolfman/Jekyll and Hyde are classic split personality/untamed murderous side stories. The Gillman practically screams Lovecraft connections with Deep Ones and humans crossbreeding with things they should not. The Phantom is an ugly incel who stalks and manipulates an innocent woman and reasons if he can't have her no one will.

Make movies. Make horror movies. Make good horror movies. Make good scary horror movies one at a time that stand up on their own, THEN sprinkle in connections or cross pollinations or little details common between them to tie them together. Set up some monster vs monster action or maybe force a few to join together against a common or worse foe. Then you really could have a "Dark Universe" worthy of its name and legacy.