CERT: 15 | PLATFORM: DVD, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
On paper, this film must’ve sounded great. A few well-worn tropes involving a down on his luck archaeologist pursuing an Aztec relic, ancient curses, tombs and demonic entities tick several familiar boxes. Add in William Shatner and Jeri Ryan in a non-Star Trek project for some added value and we’ve got something going here, right?
Though the film has a promising start where an expedition finds out how quickly things can go badly wrong when you’re disturbing the supernatural, evoking fond memories of the old Gargoyles TV movie of 1972, The Tomb quickly loses its momentum with a lacklustre pace and tepid execution. Jeri Ryan turns in a great performance as the stressed wife of archaeologist, Sergio (Jason Brooks). Sergio is ordered by his father to find a certain relic which, when destroyed, will lift an ancient Aztec curse from his family, who are descended from Cortez. Apparently, this curse has been plaguing the family since the days of Montezuma. As an indication of how misguided the film becomes, it’s hard to ignore that the underground temple of the Aztecs has somehow relocated from Mexico to a cave in Kentucky. In fact, Mexico doesn’t play into the film at all. Shatner gives an unrestrained performance as Sergio’s retired military veteran father, tersely spitting his lines through a clenched jaw while wielding an experimental rocket launcher as easily as he used a Starfleet-issue phaser rifle back in the day.
Ultimately, the film has as little kick as Shatner’s rocket launcher, it’s devoid of tension despite some nice creature effects. Whatever entertainment value it holds is purely based on its unintentional hilarity.
