Earlier in 2017, the Tom Cruise-led move The Mummy hit cinemas, and it did not go down well. As the last set of films to come out bearing the same name (The Mummy, 1999, The Mummy Returns, 2001, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, 2008) were such a hit, it’s possible that people were expecting a more campy comedy adventure movie, but reviewers see fundamental flaws in the film itself.

While The Mummy 2017 was based more on the Universal Monsters film series from the 1930s through 1950s, it clearly didn’t live up to expectations. In fact, review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes has The Mummy standing at a rather rotten 16% rating from 252 reviews, as well as only 32% of the 46,590 audiences saying that they liked it. People cite many reasons, from fundamental flaws in the plot, an unlikable lead character, taking little bits from many old horror movies that it didn’t do anything original, all the way to the film simply failing to achieve anything of substance, but one reason may be the theme of the movie.

Games exploring the theme better

Source: Xbox Addict, via Twitter

One area of gaming which is booming right now, and has a huge array of games in the Ancient Egypt theme, is in casino games. Over at Spinit online casino, a wide range of Ancient Egypt themed games are played by iGaming enthusiasts, such as Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead, Temple of Luxor, Hidden, Platinum Pyramid, Pyramid: Quest for Immortality and Gods of Giza.

Another game that was recently released and, in quite the opposite to The Mummy, has turned out to be a huge hit after it was expected to flop, has been Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Taking the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed – which some see as played out – to Ancient Egypt has revitalized people’s love of the game thanks to its setting and all of the incredible elements included from the era. The well-rounded Ancient Egypt based game delves into the most intriguing aspects of the time, expanding far beyond the somewhat niche area that the movies have mostly focused on.

Going back to Ancient Egypt

Many movies have tried and failed to utilize the Ancient Egyptian theme to its maximum potential, and The Mummy was simply another casualty of this plight. The Mummy from 1999 managed to use the Ancient Egyptian theme as a basis for a lighter enactment as well as the fast-paced adventure, so it brought strong entertainment value to the film.

The mummified leaders, some human-form gods, and Christianity have been the focal points in films when other, more interesting areas of Ancient Egypt could result in fascinating and entertaining films. Ancient Egyptian movies could revolve around one or some of their many more interesting gods, such as Anubis, Horus, Thoth, Sobek, Amun-Ra, or Sekhmet (all of which could make for incredible viewing on the big screen if done well); or around the various times of the Egyptian kingdom and their many foes in both lower and upper Egypt; or the many mysteries surrounding their traditions and structures; or their connections to the Roman Empire.