Tom Cruise faces off against princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) in a new clip from The Mummy. This summer, Universal Pictures will kick off their Dark Universe (the official title for the monster movie shared universe that was recently revealed) with a remake of The Mummy starring Cruise as a tomb raider who accidentally unleashes a vengeful ancient spirit named Ahmanet. The last remake of The Mummy had somewhat of a light-hearted tone, but the new incarnation appears to be more epic and quite a bit darker.
In addition to the sorts of settings and action you would expect from a movie involving tombs, ancient spirits and the like, The Mummy will feature some set-pieces that are more reminiscent of a typical Cruise vehicle, including a stunt-filled sequence set on a plane that has been front-and-center of the movie's marketing from the very beginning.
In another clip just released by Universal Pictures, we get a taste of what happens after Cruise sets the title character free and finds himself squaring off against her. The clip begins with Cruise and co-star Annabelle Wallis becoming involved in an ambulance crash that sees Cruise get ejected from the vehicle and narrowly miss being crushed as both he and it go careening down a hill into the forest. Cruise barely has a chance to shake off the effects of the crash before Ahmanet appears in the distance, ready to rumble.
With supreme Tom Cruiseian confidence, our hero picks up a stick and goes to square off against Ahmanet. That's when Ahmanet gives Cruise a demonstration of her powerful right upper-cut. Mike Tyson himself never packed so much force into a single punch, and Cruise goes launching hilariously high into the air and crashing back down to earth.
As this clip makes pretty clear, The Mummy is not all that interested in realistic action, which is interesting as some footage from the film actually makes it look sort of dark and gritty. Exactly what tone the film is trying to hit is somewhat hard to figure out from the various trailers and clips that have been released; at times it seems like it might be closer to the Brendan Fraser Mummy, then at times it seems to be genuinely going for scary effects. But through it all, there's one consistent theme: Tom Cruise doing Tom Cruise things.
How successfully all these different elements ultimately blend together will be a big determining factor in whether The Mummy takes off, allowing the Dark Universe to launch the way Universal hopes, or comes crashing to earth. Plans are already moving forward for more Dark Universe movies, with big stars like Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem signing on for roles.
Next: New Mummy Video Explores the Dark Universe’s Legacy
Source: Universal Pictures
