"The Mummy -Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" -- My Review

The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

I need to get this as a full-size poster!

Hey, ho!  I went to see the 11:30am showing of The Mummy 3 yesterday, opening day, at the local theater.  It was the second showing of the film that day.  Considering it was so early on a Friday, there was a pretty good turnout for this show.  I would estimate there were about 70 people in the theater with the youngest about 9 years old and the oldest gentleman I saw looked like he was about 75 years old.  Quite a range in ages! 

Rick O'Connell and his fiery dragon cannon...

This movie seemed to be more geared toward family entertainment compared to the first two Mummy movies, in my opinion.  Although there were some great effect homages carried over from the first two movies, such as one of the tomb worker's face melting (remind me never to sign up for the job of tomb excavator as frequently they are the victim of some hideous tomb trap!   ), they were toned down and not quite as scary.

What I loved about the movie:

Jet Li as the Emperor -- a fantastic portrayal of a selfish, power-hungry, blood-thirsty, manipulating ruler who, when "awoken" from the dead, still lusts for world domination.  His control over the five elements in his renanimation gives him seemingly unbeatable powers.  Now, here's a believable baddie with a lot of issues and fire power! 

The Emperor controls the five elements (fire, water, metal, wood, and Earth)

Brendan Fraser -- reprises his role as Rick O'Connell.  Brendan gives a great performance and is obviously very comfortable with his character and elevates the believability to a whole new level when confronted with issues regarding his son, love, life and death.  Oh, did I mention there's a very fine shirtless scene? 

Jonathan, Evy, Alex and Rick taking the Rolls out for a spin on the streets of Shanghai.

John Hannah -- the lovable and comical brother-in-law of Rick O'Connell who is still trying to make his fortune despite his gambling addiction; uncle and Alex O'Connell's guardian-when-Mom-and-Dad-aren't-around; and all around animal lover (you'll just double over with yak-ter when you see the movie!). 

The versatile Michelle Yeoh...

Michelle Yeoh -- As the sorceress Zi Yuan.  Does this lady ever give a bad performance?  I don't think so!  Michelle is one of the most brilliant actresses I have ever seen.  It is so easy to see that her heart and soul are enterwined with each character she portrays in her movies. 

Russell Wong -- General Ming Guo, Zi Yuan's love interest.  I would have loved to have seen more screen time but, typical of the Mummy movies, we only get the quick and dirty reenactment of ancient history so that we may be brought up-to-date for the meat of the movie itself.  Still, just the right look at the right time on his face intensified the underlying passion between his character and Zi Yuan.

Leap of faith - will audiences love this third installment?

Set design -- Out of this world, both in-studio sets and outdoors!  The sets in China were so realistic that I felt my eyes getting gritty from the desert sand and dust.  The massive number of extras used for this production provide the viewer with a glimpse of ancient China's most exploited work source:  human work force.

Costumes -- I really appreciate the attention and detail that productions give to the costumes.  The sheer bulky weight of the emperor's armored costume contrasted nicely to some of the more feathery, form-fitting dresses of the Shanghai nightclub women.

Either heading for world domination or a tasty lunch. 

Music -- Always the cherry on top of the banana split when it's good and this was definately the case in Mummy 3.  My hat is off to Randy Edelman, the music man!

Rick on possibly his last plane flight:  "What do you mean I have to pay $15 per checked piece of luggage?"

Comedy -- Even when confronted by the most maniacal supernatural powered baddies, there's always time for our heroes to utter a funny quip in order to relieve tension.  I love the "fun factor" of the Mummy series in this respect! 

Fight scene between Jet Li and Michell Yeoh -- It's too bad this didn't last longer, but I thought it was great!  I hope there's a gazillion outtakes from this scene between Jet and Michelle who had trouble not laughing at each other during their characters' desperate encounter!  

THE best fight scene!

What I wanted to love about the movie but couldn't:

Maria Bello -- Despite my undying attempt to watch Maria as Evy O'Connell with a clear, open mind, she just wasn't the Evy O'Connell we all know and love as portrayed by Rachel Weisz.  I actually feel sorry for Maria because Rachel has some big acting shoes to fill.  Sorry.  It just didn't work for me. 

Well, shut my mouth wide-open!  Evolve already!!! 

Luke Ford -- As the early twenty-something son, Alex O'Connell, in terms of looks he could have been the grown-up version of that cute 8-year old kid Alex from the Mummy 2.  However, that's about it for any good redeeming qualities, in my opinon.  I think Luke Ford would have been better cast as one of the abominable snowmen for all his grunting and caveman-like laughing.  I was appalled to think that he was going to be seen by Chinese audiences as Rick O'Connell's action/explorer heir apparent.  Luke's acting pales in comparison to that of Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh.

Did they wear sunglasses like these back in 1947?

Final Fight Scene -- Besides the essential final epic (mostly CGI-enhanced) battle involving thousands of undead giving it their all in the clash of "good vs. evil" theme, in pitting one of the world's finest martial-artists-turned-actor, Jet Li, against the formidable action hero Brendan Fraser in the final showdown, I was really expecting the actual fight scene shots to each last longer than a nano-second!  Then each nano-second of footage was spliced together in a mind-boggling, quick-flip "what just happened?" show.  Talk about putting the "chop" in chopsocky movies!  The editing was so quick that I know I have to go back and rewatch what happened.    Maybe I missed something because I, well, blinked.

A split-second shot of action....

In conclusion...

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Mummy movies for me is the incredibly loving relationship of the main characters, Rick and Evy O'Connell.  They show us that even after years of being together, they still are as passionate about each other as when they were introduced to us in the original Mummy movie.  So often with movies in a series (Spiderman, National Treasure, etc.), there seems to be at least one movie where the two main characters aren't in sync when it comes to love.  They're fighting, bickering, hating, nit-picking, or just rude to each other usually to discover, at least by the end of the sequel, that they really do still have feelings for each other.  I personally despise these attempts to put a new "spin" on characters in order to keep the story "more interesting," so finding the hate factor missing from Rick and Evy's relationship in The Mummy 3 is refreshing. 

The dashing Rick O'Connell protects wife, Evy, from the heavy leaning rock of death! 

Please go see The Mummy 3 - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for yourself and let me know what you thought of it!

 For more information about this movie, click here.