Tom Cruise Is Still Screaming Weird in the Second ‘The Mummy’ Trailer
To understand why I’m more excited than most for The Mummy, it’s important to make a list of all the things that I’m a sucker for. Tom Cruise movies? Check. Trailers or commercials that use the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ as a musical cue? Check-check. Movies where soldiers fight monsters? Check-check-check. In fact, if you do the math, the only thing on my Hollywood wishlist that the second The Mummy trailer doesn’t deliver is a John Wick-style gunfight, and there’s still time. One of those might still find its way into the final movie.
This second trailer for The Mummy offers us a better look at the type of action we’ll see in the film. Not only is there a scene where a special forces teams tries to lock Sofia Boutella’s Princess Ahmanet up in a compound Harley Quinn style (soldiers versus monsters!), there are also a few more scenes of underwater mummies and even a chaotic car chase to boot. A skeptic might argue that there’s a little too much CGI on display in this trailer, but a skeptic would also probably say they should’ve have brought that awkward Tom Cruise scream back for the second trailer, and guess what? OH YES THEY DID.
Speaking of Cruise: it’s also worth noting that his character seems surprisingly stupid this time out. Cruise has spent his entire career playing quietly competent men of action; where other people fall apart under pressure, his characters tend to take a moment, think things through, and decide on a course of action that ends up saving the day. Not so in this trailer. Cruise’s Nick Morton stumbles across the tomb because he’s in the middle of an RPG fight in a populated city, then — for some reason — is the only man qualified to explore the relic before finally shooting up a bunch of priceless Egyptian artifacts to free Princess Ahmanet. After countless Mission: Impossible and Jack Reacher films, it is admittedly a little weird to watch Cruise play just a dumb action hero.
Here’s the full synopsis for The Mummy:
Thought safely entombed in a crypt deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient queen whose destiny was unjustly taken from her, is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension. From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.
The Mummy will also feature Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, and Courtney B. Vance. The film will shamble into theaters on June 9, 2017.