the-mummy-2

Over the weekend we were treated to the first trailer for the upcoming Tom Cruise movie, The Mummy, and it went full Mission: Impossible.

Let’s talk about this for a few minutes, I’m sure most people are drawing the comparison between Mission: Impossible and this new glimpse of The Mummy.  It’s hard not to.  Even the 15 second teaser left the same impression, the full trailer just reinforced it.  I, personally, can’t stand teasers for trailers because trailers are already teasers for the entire movie.  I thought it was impossible to get an idea about a movie based on 15 seconds alone.  Apparently I was wrong.

RELATED:  Watch the First Teaser for the Upcoming Tom Cruise Movie, THE MUMMY

Half the trailer is Cruise on a plane, things go wrong, he does stunts in zero gravity, and generally acts like Ethan Hunt from the MI series.  However, he doesn’t artfully escape the crashing plane.  Instead, it looks like he goes down with the ship and doesn’t exactly survive.  He wakes up in a morgue so I guess he gets better.  Then there are more stunts, under water action stuff, desert stunts, a ridiculous bus stunt, lots of explosions and probably more stunts.  So it’s your basic action movie with a supernatural twist.

There are two main reasons this movie is getting me into the theater.  First, Sofia Boutella, she who plays the actual mummy in this movie.  She’s an undeniable badass and I love her.  I also love the mummy is female this time and not male.  I’m down with the gender swap.  Second, I adore supernatural movies and the apparent death then subsequent recovery of Tom Cruise’s character has me intrigued.

The Mummy will be the first in a Universal Monsters shared universe which will encompass classic movie monsters such as the Invisible Man, Wolfman, Creature from the Black Lagoon, possibly Dracula and Frankenstein, but definitely Van Helsing and Dr. Jekyll.  In fact, Russel Crowe is playing the doctor and it’s rumored Cruise will actually play the infamous monster hunter, Van Helsing.

Rumors are rumors and nothing is confirmed.  We know a Van Helsing movie is in the works but has no cast attached.  There is still no information on exactly how these movies will link together, other than modern day and monsters.  The popular theory is that Van Helsing will be the common character in all of them.  If this is true, then Cruise’s death and rebirth in The Mummy lends credence to that idea.  Even if Cruise doesn’t end up as Van Helsing, then maybe his character is the unifying element.

Or maybe, just maybe, Dr. Jekyll will be the unifying character.

Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman: The Secret Service and Star Trek Beyond) 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.

Now, let’s take a look at that behind the scenes video released earlier today.  The subject matter is that plane scene that takes up half the trailer.  According to the studio, the scene was shot 90% practical with very little special effects.  To achieve the weightlessness, the production filmed the scene over a couple days on a parabolic flight.

Special effects are amazing, they allow us to visit stories and worlds with live action movies that previously would have been impossible, or given the animation treatment.  That being said, practical effects are still the way to go.  Compare the Star Wars Prequels with the original Trilogy then compare that to the new Star Wars movies such as The Force Awakens and Rogue One.  The original trilogy pioneered a lot of movie effects, but they also heavily relied on practical sets.  The prequels are almost entirely CG.  While TFA and Rogue One are a blend of both, with heavy emphasis on the practical whenever possible.  Mad Max: Fury Road was also a blend of both, erring more on the side of practical and less computer generated.

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When there is a great stunt that relies on planning, preparation, and ingenuity to achieve that real feel, I applaud the movie.  The Mummy, is no exception.  Despite my cynicism drawing the comparison with MI, the MI movies are fantastic action extravaganzas with great practical effects whenever possible.  If you’re going to go the action movie route, then go big or go home.   This is definitely big.

  • Almost four miles above sea level, Cruise, co-star Annabelle Wallis and key crew—all under the eye of The Mummy director/producer Alex Kurtzman—lensed a sequence that is impossible to shoot on land.
  • Off the coast of France near Bordeaux—over two days and multiple flights—pilots and astronauts of Novespace Airbus (A-310) took the company 20,000 ft. high.
  • From this altitude, they climbed rapidly to a 50-degree angle to just over 25,000 feet; there, the plane reduced thrust, and free fell from the sky.
  • For 22-23 seconds during the ballistic phase, the company felt weightless.
  • As the Airbus free fell, cast and crew balanced dialogue, camerawork and choreography for a plane-crash scene that will appear in summer 2017’s The Mummy.
  • For the stunt, the pilots enacted a total of 60 parabolas (repeated weightlessness sessions). Each parabola allowed for the filming of a key sequence in the scene.
  • At least 90% of the plane crash sequence is practical. The only visual effects will be added in post-production and blend sets together so they look the same size and scale.

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