The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The first two movies in the series were fantastically entertaining. You had action, emotion, love, despair, and discoveries of a linked past that made the movies engrossing. They had excellent scripts, beautiful effects, and acting that made it look real. I watch them over and over. This dog...well, at least I watched until the end.

Whoever cast this movie screwed the pooch. Fraser, as Rick O'Connell is, of course, excellent. I love the gung ho balls ahead character. He IS the character. In fact, he is the franchise.

Rachael Weisz declined to return citing problems with the script. Boy did she make the right call. So Maria Bello is cast as Evy. Dear God In Heaven. what where they thinking! Where Weisz played Evuy with emotion, perfect timing, and a boatload of sex appeal, Bello is a block of freaking wood who phones in her part. She has NO fluidity, no sense of timing, and not a trace of sex appeal. In fact, a block of wood could have done a much better job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 2nd film, The Mummy Returns, the son, Alex, has a very strong `proper' English accent and typical `Brit' attitude. In this movie, Alex (Luke Ford) has NO trace of accent or his English upbringing. He plays the role like a young John Wayne, as if he was raised in Arizona. It totally fails.

Jet Li as Emperor Han...well, I loved him in Lethal Weapon 4, Unleashed, and The One. He should have done the role of Emperor Han with the same soft-sneering attitude he had in LW4. But he wasn't directed that way in this film. He was concrete, and wooden. There was no sense of surprise upon awakening 2000 years later. No marveling at the changes in the world. No wonder at how the world had changed. Totally unrealistic.

Redeeming factors: Michelle Yeoh (very big star in China) as Zi Yaun, the witch who betrays Han knowing his merciless character, Isabella Leong as her immortal daughter, and Russell Wong as General Ming Guo (Han's right hand man who falls in love with Zi Yaun). John Hannah plays Evy's gold-digging brother seamlessly from the prior films.

And there are the Yetis. Ya gotta love the Computer Graphics. At first, the Yetis were fluff, but then you start to like them. They are the `untarnished good' surrounded by evil.

The special effects are admirable. The battle scenes at the end are exceptional. The warriors (and Han) turning to sand and clay are so cool