Review of 'Mummies'

In the city of Underworld, Mummies live out eternity. Egyptian mummy Thut (Joe Thomas) is a retired charioteer with a younger brother called Sekhem (Santiago Winder). When Thut is almost run over by Princess Nefer's (Eleanor Tomlinson) chariot, they have an intense argument. Later when the Pharoah (Sean Bean) sends out a phoenix to find a suiter for his daughter, it accidentally crashes into Thut's roof leading the Pharoah to believe Thut is Nefer's suitor…which Thut supports when he finds that refusal results in cutting out of the tongue and gouging out of both eyes. When the box the marriage ring Thut has been entrusted with goes missing he realizes it could only be someone from the land of the living, in this case, explorer Lord Sylvester Carnaby (Hugh Bonneville). Thut and Nefer travel to London in the land of the living and discover wonders they could never have imagined, and perhaps, find something out about themselves.

Yeah, I just could not get into this. It is certainly intended for children and has a certain element of fun but it just did not entertain as other animated films have. The voice talent is certainly good enough though the animation is somewhat basic, too basic. The characters are reasonably likeable but never really come to life, going through the motions but never really endearing themselves to the audience. Of course, being animation, there has to be music (?) which is OK but they were not memorable in any way, basically serving the storyline element of the princess wanting to sing but being discouraged by his somewhat traditional father. This is the somewhat unimaginative and “done to death” key of the story: A coming of age story that has the young challenging the traditions of the older generations. Yawn. Even the idea of humans having been prepared for burial living in the afterlife is a bit, I don't know, wrong, really. How can you feel affection for the undead? Though, to be fair, this aspect of the film is never really picked up on…though it might have been better if it had, perhaps, poked fun at the whole idea. On a higher level it would have added a layer of sophistication that may have saved this film.

For a bit of extremely light, soulless, entertainment, it was ok, but there are far better ways to spend your time and much better options available.

Rating: “Not great, but not the worse”

Review Date: 2026-07-18

Directed by: Juan Jesús García Galocha

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Year: 2023

Length: 88 minutes

Genre: Animation

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23177868/