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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Directed by: Rob Cohen Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, Michelle Yeoh, John Hannah, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong, Anthony Wong, Russell Wong, Liam Cunningham Synopsis: Rick and Evie O’Connell (Fraser and Bello, replacing Rachel Weiss) have retired from adventuring and are now languishing in boredom at their country estate. Meanwhile their son Alex has skipped from school (again) and undertaken an expedition in China to discover the resting place of Emperor Han (Li), who thousands of years previously had been cursed by a witch (Yeoh). When the O’Connells are convinced to go to Shanghai and deliver a precious diamond, they discover too late that they and Alex have been duped into helping bring the Emperor back to life...and so another adventure begins...
Review: It’s definitely time to put this series to bed. When I think back to the first movie, which was a perfect example of a decent Summer Blockbuster, and compare it to this, there’s a pretty wide margin. Taken on it’s own merits, my feelings about the movie are all confused and divided – example: Its a good thing they came up with a new bad guy rather than bring back Arnold Vosloo as Im Ho Tep again, coz how many times are we going to believe he can come back from the dead? On the other hand, this movie really misses Arnold Vosloo! Don’t get me wrong, I love Jet Li but his character is so under-developed and for most of the movie isn’t even Jet Li, but a CGI corpse/dragon/cuddly bear creature.
There are some decent set pieces, but all but one of them just mirror set pieces from the previous movies. For example, there is a high speed chase through the streets of shanghai which feels a lot like the bus sequence in the previous movie. Terracotta armies? Just like the undead army from the previous movie...and so on. The only time I didn’t feel the sense of déjà vu was when the Yetis turned up. As the good guys. A moment of inspired lunacy to be sure, and they’re sorely missed once they go away. In Rob Cohen’s production blog, he mentioned how excited he and the rest of the crew were to be filming a fight scene between Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li. It’s a pity they didn’t hire someone a little less excitable to film the sequence. Both Michelle and Jet Li are seasoned screen fighters yet this movie makes them look like typical screen stars who’ve never had a fight scene before and have learned their moves one take at a time. Seriously, was Yuen Woo Ping or Corey Yen too busy? Mike Lambert was the fight choreographer for this movie – he has a whole string of big movie credits as a stunt performer and for the most part of this movie, the fight sequences are very well handled. Its just that – Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li! It should have been the highlight of the movie but ends up as a big disappointment.
As for the rest of the cast, there are a few welcome additions such as Liam Cunningham as Mad Dog. Liam is probably best known as the duplicitous Capt. Ryan in Dog Soldiers. Here he has a lot of fun as a totally crazy pilot. John Hannah returns as Evie’s brother, Jonathan, now running a nightclub in Shanghai. He also gets a lot of the best lines. Australian actor Luke Ford does okay as Alex. Anthony Wong plays a Chinese general who’s ambitions lead to the resurrection of the Dragon Emperor. Now, Anthony Wong is a very well known actor who mainly appears in thrillers, either playing a seasoned cop of maniac killer. He’s not, however, known for his martial arts prowess, so i was scratching my head a bit watching his character get into fight after fight. On the flip-side, there is a blink-and-you’ll miss him cameo by Jacky Wu, revered as one of the greatest screen fighters of his generation. Here he makes a brief appearance as an assassin during the prologue. It’s a criminal waste of talent. 
I have to admit I’m not a fan of Rachel Weiss. I thought she was good in the first movie but didn’t like the sudden lurch to her being all kick-ass in the second, even if the plot did kind of explain how. So I didn’t really miss her in this movie. Maria Bello comes across much better – motherly, more mature, but still able to handle herself in a fight. There are some lame jokes at the beginning of the movie which point at her taking over the role, but we can let those slide... Although the action set-pieces do feel a little repetitive, they are handled very well – something Rob Cohen is rather good at, and he had the ever reliable Vic Armstrong as his second unit director – if you ever see his name in the credits of a movie, you can expect some quality action if nothing else. The chase through Shanghai is a highlight, as is the fight with the Yetis.
Verdict: Taken on its own merits, this is a reasonable Summer Blockbuster which delivers the action. I think this should please the same kids who enjoyed The Forbidden Kingdom. On the other hand, the law of diminishing returns is definitely starting to kick in and the series is getting too repetitive – even with the change of location and threat. Its also guilty of having too much exposition (the plot is repeated over and over) and having one of the worst talk-down-to-the-audience moments right at the end. I won’t spoil it for you, may your groans be fresh! 5 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
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