So the iconic horror image of the Mummy is derived from the classic monsters from Universal Studios that had a person wrapped head to toe in bandages and in that respect the paparazzi always seem to catch Katie Price aka Jordan leaving an audition for the role until its pointed out that she’s leaving an office in Harley Street…. but we digress. Mummies is an animated feature aimed squarely at children with a somewhat muddled and confusing premise that the mummies exist in a hidden parallel kingdom to the modern world. It’s where we meet Thut (as pronounced in, ‘This is a load of old tut!) voiced by The Inbetweeners Joe Thomas. Having retired from chariot racing Thut now exists by signing pictures of himself but he finds himself accidently chosen by a phoenix as the one to marry Pharaoh’s daughter Nefer (Eleanor Tomlinson). Both are far from happy with the prospect intent instead to remain single, so in the conventions of cinema the mismatched couple are therefore destined to hook up by the end of the film.
Until they do though Thut, along with his younger brother and pet baby alligator, have to locate the wedding ring they’ve been given for the marriage and now lost or he will end up having his eyes plucked out along with his tongue – audiences may well be asking for the same along with a loss of hearing by the end of the film. To get the wedding ring back the three along with Nefer find themselves in modern day London which is curiously bereft of people and empty of road that there’s a chase sequence suggesting that the film makers have never been to London or if they did it was in 1740 or more likely that mayor Sadiq Khan and his obsession with congestion charging has sent them an idealized and fact-less promotional video of London. The mission is now to retrieve the ring from Lord Carneby (Hugh Bonneville) an archaeologist seeking his own fame with his Egyptian finds.
Mummies is a bit of a mess never sure of its premise (modern day London or an After Life Egypt), a rom com that is put to one side in favour of a plot about Nefer becoming a singer but all blandly animated by a Spanish animation house. With several excellent animated features already out notably the excellent Puss in Boots The Last Wish this pales in comparison and as one character rightly says, ‘You are Thut!’
Recent review: Shazam Fury of the Gods
Related interview: Hugh Bonneville chats about his Netflix film , ‘I Came By’
Here’s the Mummies trailer…..
