The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor brings back Brendan Fraser as the mummy defeating adventurer with Jet Li as the Chinese Emperor Qin cursed to being a mummy.
Film making 10/25
Cinematography 15/25
Audio 13/25
Bonus Features 20/25
Total 58/100
Brendan Fraser is back as the swashbuckling adventurer and mummy slayer Rick O’Connell with all new faces for a round of kill the mummy in what is sure to be the end of the series. At least I hope it will be the end in what has become with this movie a much disappointing third in the series of The Mummy.
The first film was great and a good remake of one of those old classic monster movies with all the excitement and adventure and none of the modern day gore of modern monster movies. The second went the way of the sequels and the third left a lot to be desired with a story trying to be like those Indiana Jones sequels.
Rick O’Connell is back, with a son and new actress for his wife of the first two films which is a shame but we also have a new mummy as well. Jet Li stars as the Dragon Emperor who after defeating all of China some centuries ago rules by building the Great Wall of China on the bodies of his defeated.
When ruling all of China is not enough he calls on a witch to give him life everlasting in an immortal spell but things go awry as they usually do with spells. When his most trusted officer and friend falls in love with the witch that he is supposed to bring her before the emperor bad things start to happen.
The emperor decides to kill his friend and officer because he dared to fall in love with the beautiful witch and has him torn to pieces by horses. The witch curses the Emperor and his army and we have the makings for another mummy when the Chinese Emperor and his army are entombed in clay like those terra cotta armies.
Centuries later we have a new archeologist explorer Alex O’Connell, the son of Rick O’Connell, digging up the Emperor and his army and displaying the find to the world but with a twist. A woman who we later find out is trying to kill the emperor or at least keep him bottled up as a terra cotta statue instead of a walking the earth and bringing destruction to all.
Rick and his wife, not the same actress in the first two Mummy movies, visit him at the unveiling of the Emperor and his army but with a clandestine purpose to their trip as well. Behind the scenes Rick and Evelyn are to deliver a crystal called the Eye of Shangri-La to the government of China, this Eye also just happens to resurrect the Emperor.
If the first two movies do not give away what comes next nothing will, the bad guys who want to see the mummy resurrected show up and take the Eye away from the O’Connell couple and use it on the terra cotta figure to resurrect the Emperor. The foursome of Rick, Evelyn, their son Alex and Lin, the daughter of the witch must stop the Emperor from reaching Shangri-La and obtaining his full powers or he will rule the world and turn into a big bad monster and such.
The plot would have been fine but several things mar the already over done story starting with the same story we have from the first two movies with a few differences. We also have the lame joke of the wife of Rick, Evelyn not being the same actress which could have been played differently as well.
The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a basic adventure movie and not one really worth getting except for the high tech CGI action and stunts of the film. The Blu-ray version has plenty of additional extras including the usual commentary, deleted and extended scenes, the making of, and several specials about the CGI and how they made the various parts of the film.
You also have the Blu-Ray specials of the BD Live and the U Control that give you extra control, recording and downloadable specials as well as the digital copy to add to your computer. Many of the bonus features are really good with a good behind the scenes look at the special effects, stunts and how they did all that great mummy stuff.
While the movie The Mummy: Tomb the Dragon Emperor may not be all it’s cracked up to be it is a fun romp of an adventure movie with plenty of action behind the somewhat bad story. The Blu-ray additions add a lot to the movie and if you’re a fan this will certainly add to the movie experience.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a good movie with all its special effects and added CGI animation but could have been better with a bit more of something. As it stands the movie does have a lot of great action sequences but the storyline is lacking a little common sense.
I guess this is one of those classic monster movies at heart that the movie revolves around the monster instead of any other plausible realities. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is an alright movie and one worth at least renting to see the special effects, the Blu-ray version does have all those bonus features but the movie itself may not be worth it.