Release: Oct 31, 2017
Film: The Mummy (2017)
Tagline: The Angry Video Game Nerd joins Nostalgia Critic in looking at one of the most botched horror remakes.
This review contains examples of:
- Army of Thieves and Whores: Both the Critic and the Nerd mock the film for implying that the army is "full of horny idiots and thieves".
- Artistic License – Geography: The Critic mocks the fact that Ahmanet was sealed in Mesopotamia.
- Bait-and-Switch: Among the gravestones for this episode's variant of the Nostalgia-ween 2017 theme (itself a Shout-Out to The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horrors" series) is "Bill" (i.e., the fan-favorite Malcolm character), only for the next gravestone to read "Just Kidding. You Can't Kill Bill."
- The Cast Show Off: The Critic theorizes that the scene where Nick was resurrected after his plane carrying Ahmanet's sarcophagus crashes was put in so that his actor Tom Cruise can show off naked and hammer in how good-looking he is. He also deems the scene of Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) commenting that Nick is younger than him to be ego-stroking considering that in real life, appearances notwithstanding, Crowe is two years younger.
- Crossover: With The Angry Video Game Nerd, specifically his actor James Rolfe's Monster Madness Halloween specials.
- Gangsta Style: The Critic mocks Nick for shooting the mummy-possessed Vail this way.
- Insane Troll Logic: The Critic and the Nerd point out how Ahmanet apparently plans to get revenge for her baby brother's birth, and how that led to a series of even more confusing events.
- Irony: The Nerd points out that while everyone accuses Universal Studios of playing catch-up with other cinematic universes, their classic movie monsters were the Trope Maker for cinematic universes.
- Poor Man's Substitute: The Nerd thinks that Dr. Jekyll is this movie's Nick Fury stand-in.
- Quantity vs. Quality: The Critic and the Nerd take issue with the film shoehorning in too many plotlines, in an effort to build up a "Dark Universe", instead of simply focusing on Ahmanet.
- Reality Subtext:
- The Critic's annoyance over the U.S. Army being depicted as an Army of Thieves and Whores is understandable, given that Doug and Rob's father Barney, himself a Channel Awesome staff member and part-time actor, is a retired Navy personnel.
- The Nerd's disappointment with the film is also understandable given James's fondness for classic monster movies.
- Review Ironic Echo:
- When Nick, Jenny and Vail discuss how mercury exposure will cause brain damage and then death, the Critic reinterprets it as an allegory to the effects of not reading the film's script before signing up.
- When the ambulance Nick and Jenny commandeered to escape Ahmanet crashes, the Nerd and the Critic think it is a perfect allegory to what the film is good at: crashing and burning (critically).
- Sarcasm Mode: When the Critic complains over Nick's lack of further characterization than being an antiquities thief, the Nerd sarcastically retorts that he's well-written, while showing a montage of him delivering lame lines.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The first half of the review ends with Critic taking a restroom break while he and the Nerd wait for a Jump Scare.
- Sequel Hook: The Critic holds up a Blu-ray of Dragonball Evolution at the end of the review.
- Shout-Out:
- With the recent proliferation of cinematic universes, the Critic feigns surprise that Teletubbies haven't gotten one yet.
- The Critic says at one point that Ahmanet has become the Enchantress.
- One of the cliched lines listed is "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub".
- When Ahmanet's ravens attack the plane her sarcophagus was in, the Nerd thinks the movie is ripping off The Birds.
- He also snarks that the mummy transformed the cops into "the walking duds".
- The Nerd thinks the scene of Nick talking to Vail across a restroom mirror is a ripoff of An American Werewolf in London.
- Ahmanet being successfully captured by Prodigium agents shooting grappling hooks on her is so nonsensical the Critic thinks the film might as well have sent an army of Mabel Pines after her.
- Upon seeing the Prodigium facility full of preserved specimens of strange creatures, the Critic claims he just saw Howard the Duck among the collection.
- Stillborn Franchise: The duo mock the film insinuating that it is but the first of a cinematic universe, with The Stinger of Nick becoming an avatar of Set leaving them more confused than excited.
- Take That!:
- Among the gravestones for this episode's variant of the Nostalgia-ween 2017 opening credits are inscribed "Subtle Johnny Depp" and "The Last Airbender 2".
- When the opening scene with knights is shown, the Critic quickly says "Oh God, it's Transformers 5! Kill it with underperforming ticket sales!", to which the Nerd replies "Too late."
- The Nerd attributes the American military's portrayal as an Army of Thieves and Whores to the fact that its director Alex Kurtzman was also the screenwriter for Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.
- The Nerd thinks the scene of the Army plane falling after being attacked by Ahmanet's ravens is so blatantly CGI he compares it to that in Superman Returns.
- During the sandstorm in London scene Critic mutters, "Boy, I didn't think Brexit would be this bad."
- Tempting Fate: The Critic says that he's going to enjoy watching the Dragonball Evolution Blu-ray that the Nerd gave him (said film is considered one of the worst adaptations of all time)note .
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Both the Critic and the Nerd are disappointed that whatever potential a female Mummy in the form of Ahmanet had was wasted on terrible writing and poor world-building.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Parodying the epigraph of the film from the "Egyptian Prayer of Resurrection", the Nerd puts his spin by replacing the epigraph with "This movie's gonna suck" from "Everyone".
- Wacky Sound Effect: The Goofy Holler is played when Ahmanet gives Nick a punch that sends him flying.
