Agreed, especially about Universal attempting to make this into a Marvel movie. With that in mind, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Prodigium, his monster-fighting organization, is what Nick Fury and SHIELD are for the Marvel Universe. So, he's not entirely "pointless" and, to their credit, it's an admirable show of imagination for making all of these classic monster characters work together in this new Dark Universe they've got planned.

That said, the biggest distraction came from Jake "College Humor" Johnson playing what I can only presume was a "comic relief" character and not a deliberate attempt to derail the tone and seriousness of the movie. I can't laugh at his indignation and then genuinely worry for Tom Cruises' safety, or even be scared at the mummies, in the space of 30 seconds. And I think the audience reaction at my screening confirms that!

Regardless, I also debated leaving half-way through the movie. There were some good ideas presented with otherwise good special effects. On it's own, it's easy enough to accept the movie as it is, but the marketing set an expectation in theme and tone that the movie doesn't even attempt to deliver.

Fortunately, management at my Cinema was gracious enough to give me two passes for another visit!