Parents' Guide to

The Mummy

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

First Dark Universe monster movie is violent, uneven.

Movie PG-13 2017 107 minutes
The Mummy Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 14+

Based on 18 parent reviews

Luke G.
Luke G. Parent of 10-year-old
March 12, 2022
age 13+

It is good to be Brave - 10 yr girl

The Mummy is really scary and has a lot of jump scares in it.
fahimforid
fahimforid Adult
December 19, 2020
age 13+
See all 18 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE MUMMY, Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are military recon men who use their positions to hunt treasure in the Middle East and sell it on the black market. During one explosive mission, they discover an Egyptian tomb with a most unusual sarcophagus inside, heavily protected by a pool of mercury. Archeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) and the two men liberate it. But a sandstorm arises, and a flock of birds smashes into their plane. Nick wakes up, miraculously alive but now cursed. He's now the "chosen one" of the mummy, a banished princess called Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). She's bent on obtaining a special knife and gemstone to carry out a terrifying ritual, at the possible cost of Nick's life. Only Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) can help!

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (18):
Kids say (32):

The first entry in Universal's Dark Universe monster series gets things off to a so-so start; it tries to be a crowd-pleaser, but it seems its makers never decided exactly what kind of movie it is. Like the 1999 movie of the same name, The Mummy is an action movie above all. It casts Nick as a lovable scoundrel, and it makes many attempts at snappy humor between him and the other characters. There's also at least one clever fight scene. But aside from a couple of simple jump-scares and references to other monsters, it's not really a horror movie or a monster movie (it doesn't really care about the monster), and it probably won't warrant repeat viewings at Halloween time.

Director Alex Kurtzman has worked as a screenwriter on plenty of big, loud action movies (including two Transformers entries), but he's only helmed one other movie, the sentimental drama People Like Us. Though the FX department on The Mummy provided him with great-looking sandstorms, spiders, rats, undead soldiers, and other nifty things, he can't seem to balance the humor with the action or the action with the monsters. Some of it is confusing, dull, or both. Much of it is entertaining in separate chunks, but they don't add up to very much.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about The Mummy's violence. Does it go over the top, or does it seem appropriate for the story? How did it make you feel? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of scary movies/monster movies?

  • Did you think about the fact that this was the first time the mummy has been played by a woman? What impact does that have on the story? The character?

  • Is the main character likable even though he's a thief? Why or why not? How do movies and TV shows make scoundrels sympathetic?

  • In two scenes, Nick drinks a lot, very quickly. Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

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