The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) Synopsis:
Rick O'Connell (Fraser), who journeys into the forbidden tombs of China and into the Himalayas, where he and his son run into a new shape-shifting mummy, a former Chinese emperor who was cursed by a female wizard.
The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) Movie Review:
The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) were huge box office sensations, though both were dumb action films filled with CGI. One could accept these films as guilty pleasures, which also falls in line for the latest addition to the series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Like its predecessors, it is full of CGI and really dumb. The film should actually be called just The Dragon Emperor, because the bad guys in fact are more stoned zombies, not mummies, but that is just one of countless inconsistencies with this troubled blockbuster.
Taking place 12 years after the last time we saw Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn O’Connell (Maria Bello) in 1947, the two are now retired away from adventure and danger in a mansion in England. Rick takes up fly fishing and Evelyn is an author of mummy books, while there now grown up son Alex (Luke Ford), has dropped out of college and is a discoverer like his father. Looking for his first break to stand out of his father’s shadow, Alex discovers the tomb and body of the legendary Emperor Han (Jet Li) of China.
Thousands of years ago before Christ, Han ruled the entire western world by his greed and heartless choices. Wanting to be immortal, he makes a deal with a witch named Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) to give him this power. Feeling betrayed by his second in command Ming Guo (Russell Wong), who has fallen in love with Zi Juan, he orders the general’s execution, but not before Zi Juan places a curse of the emperor and his army to turn to stone and be embedded in the sands of China.
The next thing you know, Rick and Evelyn are in China with their son Alex (Luke Ford) and Emperor Han is awakened and one the run. His plan is to awake his army and to once again conquer the world. He is also can control the elements of the earth and turn into a three-headed dragon. Joining the O’Connells in their quest to stop Han, are Evelyn’s humorous brother Jonathan (John Hannah), and Zi Juan and her daughter Lin (Isabella Leong), who are both immortals.
Working from a script by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, director Rob Cohen (XXX, Stealth) takes over the reigns from previous Mummy director Stephen Sommers, who is aboard only as producer this time. Cohen clumsy directs one action sequence after another in a loud and poorly edited fashion. The silly feel of the previous films is still intact for this third installment, but the orchestrated action sequences are less explosive and not as quant in the special effects department.
Shifting gears to China is a much needed departure that the series needs, but the supernatural elements become done right laughable. Included is not only Emperor Han’s three-headed fire breathing dragon, but he also turns into a hairy beast that looks like a mutated Sasquatch. It gets worse with the arrival of three ferocious abominable snowmen that are actually gentle friends of the good guys with bright blue eyes, but a mouth of razor sharp teeth.
The plot for the film understandably is mundane, which has Alex stealing a chunk of Rick’s thunder as the macho lead. Was is sorely missed is that Cohen only includes a brief fight sequence between the martial arts stars Li and Yeoh, instead of it being the showcase event of the finale climatic battle. On top of all these problems, there are of course countless inconsistencies, and if you want to be picky about it, Jet Li’s well-manicured mustache disappears after he is cursed and turns into a bubbly brown Yoo-Hoo drink.
Brendan Fraser has so much fun making these Mummy films that he would probably do it for free. He is a terrific B movie actor, and slips comfortably back into his role as Rick O’Connell. The great Rachel Weisz decided to opt of this installment as Evelyn, and is replaced by Maria Bello. Bello is a talented actress, but here she is more distracting than effective sporting an overdone English accent. Luke Ford looks like a model playing a serious role as Alex. John Hannah provides the comic relief once again as Evelyn’s brother Jonathan. Jet Li’s presence is a welcomed addition to the series, but he is mostly CGI and breathing fire as Han, and Michelle Yeoh is underused in her role as the immortal witch Zi Juan.
One probably does not expect much from a film like this, it is a B-movie, but it still poorly constructed and executed. The series vastly misses the spunk of Rachel Weisz, but that is not saying much too as weakly contrived and dunce as all of the films in the series have been.
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The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson
7th September, 2008 
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