The Mummy: despite being the lauch of (yet another) cinematic multiverse, Alex Kurtzman’s film manages to be somewhat streamlined, a rarity in this age of bloated blockbusters. That, however, may be its only quality. The plot is essentially the same as the original film’s, with a few updates here and there (mostly for the worse, as, in the internal logic of the film, some things are hard to buy, even in the summer blockbuster landscape); characters that are attractive or interesting are nowhere to be seen. The cast is wasted: Tom Cruise shows little of his usual charm and magnetism; Russell Crowe has nothing to do; Annabelle Wallis is cute, but bland. The action scenes, as well as the visual effects, are competent but not inspired, which is more than can be said of the attempts of humour and mood setting, as those are far from competent.