Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers! Blaziker is back for another adventure, and if you think we are done with reviewing two animated movies in January, oh boy, I think some might have forgotten there was another animated movie that came out in January, here in Singapore. And even though I wanted to cover it early, unexpected detours resulted in me speeding ahead as we entered the Land of the Mummies for a wedding. Yes, even the dead have weddings!
From some of the team that used to work for LightBox Animation Studios, the Spanish animation studio behind the Tad the Lost Explorer series and Capture the Flag, Mummies centres on an alternate dimension with a civilisation of mummies, but when an old ring from their dimension was stolen, three mummies and their pet crocodile ventures to present-day London to retrieve it back in time for the wedding of a lifetime.
Personally, Spanish animation is on the weird and varied side, as there is a wide variety of animated movies this country had produced for so long. From award-winning flicks to family fare and some weird, indie ones, Spain is a country I had tons of respect, and this is yet another mainstream Spanish fare I am cautiously looking forward to, even it Warner Brothers is distributing it despite it being owned by one of the worst CEOs in the business.
With that being said, let us walk like an Egyptian and see where this bizarre London tour takes us, shall we?
Key Information
- Director: Juan Jesús García Galocha
- Animation Studios: 4 Cats Pictures, Anagru Group, Moomios Movie AIE
- Country of Origin: Spain
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: 19 January 2023 (In Singapore theatres)
Trailer
The Review
Story
Since I have a lot to say about the story and characters, I will separate the “Story and Characters” sections to talk about the story and characters in different sections.
If there is one thing that is a constant when it comes to most, but not all, foreign CG animated movies after spending a lot of time covering them, it is that you should expect weird stories and concepts, but lower quality writing compared to most good mainstream animated movies (whose studios often can hire more and better writers regularly). Mummies is no exception to this worrying trend.
For one, there was a clear influence from the Tad the Lost Explorer series because of the Land of the Mummies, as well as the gravediggers that discovered it (more on the characters later), with the combination of old relics meeting modern civilisations, such as the tour of London (which the four Mummies mistaken it as Rome, because you know, history of civilisations). I think the writers did not go far enough into this world of mummies, and whether that is the afterlife for actual mummies and wished they explore the land more.
The bigger issue I had, however, has to be the script, more specifically the dialogue. While I had been through bad scripts and dialogue before, the dialogue, particularly the English dubbing, might be one of the most unintentionally hilarious scripts in recent months. I genuinely laughed at the badly put together punchlines, which should not be a good sign. That is not the case for Mummies, but more on that when I get to my level of enjoyment later.
In addition, the pacing felt too frantic, which resulted in the creation of plot holes as I could not keep up, something I had experienced when watching Paws of Fury last year. While pacing is an issue, a bigger issue I had is that the movie somehow threw almost every animated movie trope in existence into the movie, which I must admit, was what I would have expected for a foreign CG animated movie. Still, at the very least, the writers in charge could have tied those tropes into the story properly, and not to throw them at the audience at random moments…
Regarding the comedy, while some jokes, comprising physical and verbal comedy, the comedy is pretty typical of a mainstream family friendly animated movies, though it is not cringeworthy. A lot of it tends to be on the Mummies trying to accustom to modern civilisation while trying to find their precious ring in London, so the comedy felt one-dimensional.
To be fair, I had seen foreign CG animated movies with weird concepts, but worked well because the writing helps to tie those weird concepts together, such as Son of Bigfoot and Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves. However, such successes are rare to find because these weird movies require solid writing to be great, and Mummies ain’t had that high level of quality writing.
Characters
For the characters, we have Thut (voiced by Joe Thomas), a former charioteer who spends his days in the Land of the Mummies signing autographs and meeting fans after his retirement from chariot races, his brother Sekhem (Santino Wilder) and his pet Croc (whom I want to snuggle if there is a plushie of Croc), and finally, Princess Nefer (Eleanor Tomlinson) who secretly desires to be a popstar. I would not go far into the characters because frankly, if you had seen similar animated movies, you would know what to expect.
With Thut and Nefer in a forced marriage, their hot-and-cold chemistry is something we had seen before, but at least it did not feel forced and unnecessary, because at least there was a clear love development between the two as they tried to retrieve their wedding back. Even with this typical and overused plotline, the execution is ok. Sekhem can appear annoying, and had impeded Thut on some occasions in the movie, but he and Croc were quite useful in helping, even if they are only a supporting act.
As for the villain, the rich gravedigger who stole the ring, Lord Carnaby (voiced by Hugh Bonneville from Paddington 2), is a typical, rich corporate gold-digger with a mummy issue, and is just a typical “won’t stop at nothing” villain we had seen many times before. His two dumb henchmen, both voiced by Dan Starkey, are basically Thomson and Thompson from the Tintin comic series. Not much I had to say about them.
So, what about the voice acting? To be honest, given the low-quality script, I do not except much from the voice acting, but at least I got to laugh at some of the voice delivery throughout the series. Let’s just say the delivery also delivered some hilarious moments, which makes the movie less annoying than it should be. Again, more on that when I talked about how much I enjoyed its badness later.
Animation
Given that some animators previously worked for LightBox Animation Studios, I expect a similar quality level of animation in Mummies as compared to the Tad the Lost Explorer series, and indeed, both Mummies and the Tad movies shared a similar animation profile. While there are indeed similarities, there are some differences.
For one, the character designs share a cartoony aspect with the Tad movies, but they are less detailed compared to a good amount of foreign CG animated movies, especially with the almost bland facial designs. Still, the animation style is not a big issue for me because I am quite fond of these designs, even if they are not the most interesting.
What is an issue, however, goes into the animation quality. A common issue with foreign CG animated movies, as I mentioned before, is that it is a bit easy to notice the drop in quality of animation, and there were certain scenes where the rendering quality drops, especially with some of the faster-paced scenes. This is not a surprise to me, as I covered a lot of these similar movies before, but I wish the studios working on these animation studios to not sacrifice the budget for their animation work.
I will give it this, at least the animation in Mummies, regardless of its quality, is interesting enough for me to get engaged, even if the animation is similar to most of the animated movies I had seen it before. At least it has some personality.
Soundtrack and Other Elements
Soundtracks matter to me because they help to set the atmosphere for certain scenes in the movie. In fact, I believe a bad soundtrack can ruin an otherwise solid movie, while a great soundtrack can salvage an otherwise ok or mediocre movie. In the case of Mummies… What on earth is that soundtrack???
There is a main plot of Nefer wanting to sing, but even so, the musical moments felt random without much anticipation, and the soundtrack is pretty poppy. Generic pop songs, unless done correctly (and that is up to a viewer’s definition of what that is), can tank an animated movie, so the musical numbers kind of weaken the quality of the movie overall. I probably would need to listen to the soundtrack again to gauge the quality level of the soundtrack again, but hey, for what it is worth, at least it’s not Arctic Dogs soundtrack levels of terrible.
With that said, the movie possess what sets to be the most random and out-of-place needle drop for any animated movie in a long time: Nickelback’s “Far Away” during the third act was so out of place, that I almost did a double take hearing that song in the theatre. That is on top of The Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian”, but that was an obvious needle drop, anyway.
Besides the soundtrack and speaking of tropes, there is also some product placement that a lot of animated movies of recent memory had fortunately abandoned a long time ago, but there is one that also caught me by surprise (I won’t reveal what that brand is because it is a spoiler moment, but once you saw it, you will probably be shocked given that brand’s terrible reputation). There were so many random moments thrown at the audience, I deliberately separate the “Level of Enjoyment” for this review.
And now, here it is…
Level of Enjoyment
Let’s face it, Mummies is technically not a good animated movie if you had followed along, but there is a reason I introduced “Level of Enjoyment” as part of my new rating system. This is because if I found myself enjoying over how bad a movie is, chances are, at least they are worth seeing compared to legitimately terrible movies that waste my time. While most elements in the movie are not so well done, the lack of cohesiveness in those elements actually made the whole movie experience bizarrely enjoyable.
In a similar vein to Dino Time, except with slightly better elements, Mummies’ lack of cohesiveness somehow elevates the entertainment factor by making the stupidity of the entire story the selling point of the whole movie. Yes, this movie made some baffling creative choices, but you got to admit, those decisions are pretty hilarious. Further amplified by the almost sold out cinema during my 5pm screening of Mummies (which could be because it was a Chinese New Year in-lieu day), I don’t think I had a laugh riot this much for a low-brow animated movie in a long time and since Dino Time and Deep, and that is honestly better than nothing.
Conclusion
Well, the wedding is over, and I am back in the human world once again! It seems it should be yet another foreign CG animated movie that would be forgettable, but no, even if Mummies is not good, I actually enjoyed myself there.
While Mummies is no technical masterpiece, nor will it be an awards contender (maybe a Goya for Best Spanish Animated Feature), but Mummies brought a bizarre concept to life. There is a lack of cohesion in the movie’s many elements besides the bizarre story ranging from the incoherent writing with endless tropes to uneven pacing that borders on being rushed. There is also the question of characters not fully realised and with unintentionally bad line delivery, slight below-average animation and questionable music.
However, the lack of cohesion resulted in a shockingly entertaining animated movie where I had a blast laughing together with the fully packed crowd. It may not be a technically good animated movie, but with it being more than the sum of its parts, Mummies is hilariously stupid in the best way possible.
Thank you so much for reading this review. Well, with the audit peak period picking up steam, why don’t we cover some more animated movies that came out recently as well before I take a short break from reviewing animated movies? Stay tuned next week because the first Animated Movie Rundown of 2023 is out next week! I’ll see you then and until then, k thank bye!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
