Trailer Talk: The Mummy

With every studio looking to leverage any existing intellectual property they already own, it's not surprise that they've decide to revisit The Mummy much like they attempted to do with Frankenstein and Dracula. However, at least The Mummy has some precedent behind it. The 1999 film starring Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser was a hit, as was its sequel The Mummy Returns. The key change? Turn the horror flick into a full blown action blockbuster. And if today's trailer is any indication the latest incarnation had a very similar idea.

The movie stars Tom Cruise as Nick Morton, an adventurer/grave robber? that accidentally uncovers an ancient Egyptian tomb after a furious firefight. As it turns out, the tomb is actually a prison for Princess Ahmanet, a murderous former Queen to be that has been cursed...and Nick just woke her up. After the awakening apparently kills him in a plane crash Morton, is shocked to discover that he's alive, but for what purpose? And can he stop Ahmanet before she destroys the world as we know it?

So there's a lot going on this in trailer but it looks like we're following a similar setup the 1999 film. Dummy American unleashes an ancient Egyptian force with seemingly limitless power and now it's up to him and his compatriots to make things right. Cue the giant special effects set pieces. I'm already semi-interested. I also like that the villain is a lady, I'm curious about the new wrinkle with Cruise apparently being linked to the Mummy and is that Russel Crowe spouting wisdom? Alright!

The one big question I have is can this movie do different things with the similar setup. We've seen the sand tricks in the rebooted Mummy movies as well as generic hench people so I want to see something new. I'm also wondering if Cruise's link to the Mummy means he'll die by the movie's end or if they'll find a work around. That all remains to be seen but at the very least this trailer has me curious.

Short version: Lots of Tom Cruise action, nice use of "Paint it Black" still curious about what the plot has in store.