The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor by Rob Cohen (2008)
2 August 2008I am a fan of the first 2 Mummy movies, and the Scorpion King spin off, and I am a huge fan of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, as well as of Brendan Fraser, so I had been looking forward to this film, but unfortunately this film is not a worthy follow up and should not have been made. This movie is bad all the way around. The action has horrible wire-fu that looks really bad. Brendan Fraser is not old enough to be a father to his son in the movie, and the son is not a good enough character to replace him. And worst of all the replacement of Rachel Weisz with Maria Bello. Not only was the casting bad, but while it is supposed to be the same character, the character is so completely different that you could never mistake her for the same character, nor do you believe the love story, that was so visible and obvious in the first two films. This change of character really ruins the film, as it has none of the fun and spark of the original. This film really should not have been made. The film is just awful, and a full waste of time.
The film starts with the back story, the story of the first emperor of China (Jet Li), who took the country by force, and wanted to find the secret of eternal life. He sent his best warrior Ming Guo (Russell Wong) out to bring in a witch named Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh), but the two fall in love. She gives the Emperor the secret to life, but he learns of her love affair, and has Ming Guo killed, and Zi Juan curses him and his whole army, turning them to stone, before running away. In the present he O’Connell’s son Alex (Luke Ford) is working with an old man and former thief and General Yang (Anthony Wong Chau Sang) to unearth the tomb of the Emperor, even though he is supposed to be in college. Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) have retired after working as intelligence agents during the war. She has written 2 hit books about their previous adventures, but can’t come up with a 3rd, as they have had no more adventures. Rick meanwhile has tried to take up fishing, but they both jump at a chance to take a special jewel back to the museum of Shanghai, where they will visit Evelyn’s brother Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah) who has a bar in Shanghai.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
The O’Connell’s arrive, just as Alex is there getting in a fight with pilot Mad Dog Maguire (Liam Cunningham) who rick knows. They extricate him, and he takes them to see the Emperor they have found, and give the gem over. Alex is attacked by a beautiful young girl named Lin (Isabella Long Lok Si), but she shows him that his parents are being attacked by the General and his minion, and they have managed to resurrect the Emperor with the Gem, though he is still in a form of mud until he can get to the well of eternal life in Shangrilla, using the stone. The emperor and his resurrected horses go running through the city with Alex and Lin on it, and being chased by Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan in a fireworks truck. The emperor ends up escaping, and they get Mad Dog to fly them to a temple in the mountains, which will lead them to the well.
The O’Connell’s are first, but the Emperor and the General are on their trail. They get to the temple, and set up for an attack, and Lin calls in some abominable snowmen to help them. The emperor finds the way, but is buried in the snow, and Rick is stabbed through, and they get to the cave that leads to Shangrila, and find Zi Juan, and learn that Lin is her daughter, and they have been protecting it for years. Rick is saved by the water, but the Emperor comes and gets in the water, being reborn with immense power, and turning into a dragon. He must go resurrect his army, and cross the Great Wall for them all to be all powerful
The O’Connell’s run with Zi Juan to the wall, and she resurrects all the people the emperor killed and buried under the wall, including Ming Guo, and they fight his terra-cotta army. Gerneral Yang is hit by a bomb dropepd by Jonathan, but survives, and they have their final fight, and the Emperor is of course finally defeated, though Zi Juan is killed, but Lin loses her eternal life, so she can be with Alex. Jonathan gives his bar to Mad Dog and heads for Brazil.
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So Incredibly lame! This could have been at least fun, but was just a mess all the way around!
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