Yes, I know what you’re thinking: Yet another movie with Tom Cruise running around and engaging in endless action scenes. Well, you’re not entirely wrong, but there’s more to The Mummy than that…

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The buried and thought-to-be-dead past is what this film is rooted in, as it motivates the characters, each in their own way. Tom Cruise’s character Nick Morton has his drive to capitalize on the past by selling antiques, while Jennifer Halsey yearns to understand it as an archeologist.

Tom Cruise’s characters, which are often grounded in their morality, are deviated from in this film, as he is more in tune with the adventurous action hero he physically plays in most of his films. It makes for some funny situations he finds himself in, especially with his pal Chris Vail, played by Jake Johnson, who is the funniest character, and interacting with the always-serious Halsey. Nick Morton’s sense for adventure, though, is exactly what both unearths the story and challenges his personality.

Despite the tone I received from the trailers, this film is decently campy when it comes to the humor in the horror, and I enjoyed it. The action is extremely fast-paced and there never seems to be a dull or slow moment. Speaking of action, Tom Cruise, in his typical physical action hero role, is challenged by the overpowering supernatural and its definitely welcome and does play into the humor.

The relationship between Nick and Jennifer is flawed in that it could have been better developed. To me, they knew each other for too little of time for there to be the depth they portrayed through to the film’s end, at least when it comes to Nick.

Instead, Nick better interacts, though, with characters like Henry (who you will find out about when you watch the film). Henry, played by Russell Crowe, is the character that does a wonderful job articulating the universe they’re living in and furthermore his purpose in it. The weight of his character is seen immediately and only grows from there. There is a significant range to he and Nick’s interactions that does an exemplary job at setting up the Dark Universe, harkening back to the versus titles, and made me excited for things to come.

The greatest strengths of the film were the story and its antagonist. The undead Princess Ahmanet, played by Sofia Boutella, drives the story as soon as she is resurrected. Her portrayal is sinister, but not really scary. The curse that she brings upon those that unearthed her not only follows them, but attracts them: an interesting twist that keeps the story moving. Powers exhibited by Ahmanet are really cool and make for some awesome special effects. Evil and its power are the most important aspect of the story, especially when it comes to the Dagger of Set and Tom Cruise being “chosen.” Watching the film, it is obvious what is coming, but by the film’s conclusion, there is a twist that made me smile from ear to ear, but I’ll leave that for you to find out!

The Mummy comes out June 9th, starring Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella and Jake Johnson

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