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| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor |
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| Mummy:Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor Review |
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| POSTED Tuesday, August 05, 2008 05:12:33 PM |
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Plot:In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick and Alex O'Connell unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago.
Cast:Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Luke Ford, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, Alex Pettyfer, John Hannah, Anthony Wong, Isabella Leong.
My Thoughts:Worst "Mummy" of the trilogy.
Review:After an almost seven year absence from the big screen. Universal decided to bring back their major-grossing "Mummy" series, which starred Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. In 2001.....the series parked for awhile after the release of "The Mummy Returns", a great sequel albeit a bit outrageous at the finale. Now, in 2008....we get "Mummy:Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor", where Fraser once again returns as adventurer Rick O'Connell and once again has to lay the smack down on an undead baddie....this time played by martial arts star Jet Li. Li plays Emperor Han, an evil Chinese warlord/conquerer who wanted above all else he had accomplished, to cheat death. He turned to a sorceress named Zi Juan (Yeoh) to do this.
Once he gets what he wanted, he then betrayed her, stabbing her and leaving her to die. But not before she placed a death curse upon Han and his army. Now, many years later, the emperor has been unearthed in a double-cross move involving Rick's son Alex (Ford), who was betrayed by a long time friend of the O'Connell's, and tricked into unearthing the sarcafogus of the evil Han. With the dragon emperor now free, it's up to Alex, his father Rick, Eveleyn (Bello), and her brother Jonathan to stop him before he...well, what else? Raises an army to wipe out the world! Which is exactly the problem with this film.
It's one thing to be off Mummy duty for seven years, it's another thing to return after that lengthy period with the same old, same old and no new ideas. Arnold Voosloo as Imhotep wanted to wipe out the world in parts 1 and 2 with an army of the undead, and enslave the human race. So why can't atleast one mummy come up with a more original idea like destroying the ozone layer or something? Anything to bump down the monotony of the typical villain goals in this series. Jet Lil is wasted in this film by the way. He doesn't get much screentime, he's seen in the beginning, and then doesn't return until the very end.
Between that time, he's dead...and then when he's awoken, he is in CGI goon mode until his flesh is fully returned. Other than a badass fight between him and Michelle Yeoh's character during the intense climax of the picture, his character is pretty much relegated to a one-dimensional dictator type. That was one thing the first two films avoided. They really delved into the character of Imhotep, his motives, his goals, and his backstory overall. This new mummy is screwed on that whole deal, and is basically made into a cartoonish villain that of course has to be defeated so everyone goes home happy..."sigh".
Fraser as Rick O'Connell is the only bright spot of this movie, which early word on it was that Luke Ford would be taking over the hero reigns of the film. That does not happen here, Ford gets his share of screentime, but Rick is still front and center as hero of the movie, and at some point you think without him Han would've killed all the good guys with ease and fulfilled his evil plans. Rick is really the only tolerable good guy of the movie. Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz as Evelyn is pushed to the back of the line, and mostly is relegated to looking good in her tight, chic outfits while everyone else does the ehavy lifting.
Although not as whiny as Weisz's Evelyn, she still isn't given much to do. Isabelle Leong tags along with Rick, Evelyn, and Alex as a mysterious Chinese woman who may or may not be on the side of the good guys. Unfortunately this film is written so predictably by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar that it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who's side she's really on, no matter how the writers try their sad pathetic attempt at fooling the audience with a big question mark stamp on her character. John Hannah isback as Jonathan and boy is he ever annoying in this film. Unlike the humorous aspects he added to the first two film, in "Dragon Emperor", he's just annoying and way overdone.
They even try to have him throw in some profanity so we can believe his character has gotten meaner and tougher over the years. Needless to say it doesn't work. The action sequences are lacking, mostly because there aren't many of them. Beyond a lengthy snowbound scene involving some cool looking yeti, and the very exciting final battle...this movie is lite on action. Unlike "Returns" which had so many action sequences it was incredible. Toss in the obvious absence of one Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay, and the overusage of CGI...and you've got one boring ass movie with glaring flaws.
They should've called it "The Mummy 3:A Shell Of It's Former Self". While diehard fans may be satisfied with seeing characters Rick, Jonathan, and Evelyn back on screen in another rip-roaring desert adventure, those who are looking for a third entry to top "The Mummy Returns" had better look elsewhere. AFter seeing this film, it's become obvious to me why Rachel Weisz apparently passed on the opportunity to come back and reprise her role as Evelyn O'Connell. She read the script!
Positives:The final battle was quite good, Michelle Yeoh did what she could with what she was given. She's an amazing actress to come out of this horrible thing smelling like roses. Albeit still, her character was wasted for the most part. Maria Bell provided some nice eye candy.
Negatives:Jet Li's character was wasted, which is sad considering he's the villain we're supposed to be afraid of. Undead CGI soldiers vs. other Undead CGI soldiers at the end again, yawn. Terrible dialogue, a severe lack of action, and John Hannah's character was not handled very well at all in his third appearance in the series.
Overall:2 Stars because of the final battle, and Michelle Yeoh's performance.
Review by Mr. HoRrOr at Horror Movies &stuff
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| REPLIED Tuesday, August 05, 2008 07:34:21 PM |
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| REPLIED Thursday, August 14, 2008 08:54:44 AM |
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| REPLIED Thursday, August 14, 2008 08:54:55 AM |
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| REPLIED Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:33:00 AM |
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| REPLIED Saturday, August 16, 2008 03:47:45 PM |
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fantastic as mummy 2, a scorpion man is as fantastic as a Dragon and yetis, but the violence is more believable to me, like more blood than in the first 2 movies combine, is a fun goofy movie, of course Weishl is missing, still, i really have a good time with the movie, although the end could have been better
Like Jonathan said, the next is in Peru, lol
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