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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

July. 31,2008
|
5.2
|
PG-13
| Adventure Fantasy Action

Archaeologist Rick O'Connell travels to China, pitting him against an emperor from the 2,000-year-old Han dynasty who's returned from the dead to pursue a quest for world domination. This time, O'Connell enlists the help of his wife and son to quash the so-called 'Dragon Emperor' and his abuse of supernatural power.

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Reviews

Micitype
2008/07/31

Pretty Good

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Brendon Jones
2008/08/01

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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Rio Hayward
2008/08/02

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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Kaelan Mccaffrey
2008/08/03

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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rushmoras
2008/08/04

A couple of things, which bothered me:1) The Dragon Emperor's CGI. Would have been really impossible for the film-makers to just simply constantly make him look like a decaying mummy, instead of being encased in a bronze statue? Because the former was just bad CGI, and the latter would have been a question for a good make-up artist;2) The ability of the Dragon Emperor to shape-shift. Sorry, but those scenes were just quirky. I understand that the film-makers wanted to show the audience "lo, and behold the might of this villain", but keep the dragons and stuff to the fairy-tale movies. Not Indiana Jones esque movies;2.1) The same could be said about the Yetis in the movie;3) So, during the end, The Dragon Emperor finally understood English? Another one of his supernatural traits or just an overlook from the guys responsible for the scenario?3.1) The same could be said about the Chinese witch in the end. Do the fallen enemy solders understood English (because there was no English at that time) well enough for them to rise from their graves and avenge themselves against the Emperor?Anyway, would have been looking forward for the fourth Mummy set in Peru (Jonathan's words), but, ah, well, you win some, you loose sum. All in all, not a bad movie, but some mistakes take the score away.

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jaredpahl
2008/08/05

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is stupid. The plot is goofy, the dialogue is banal, the actors are going through the motions, and the direction is ordinary. The thing is, nobody going to a movie called 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor' is expecting anything from these traditional pillars of cinema. This movie is made for 12-year-olds looking for something cool to daydream about and inner 12-year-olds who want a diverting two hours of adventure. On that front, how does this third Brendan Fraser led Mummy film hold up? Well, let's call it an admirable disappointment. From the perspective of a huge 'Mummy' fan, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a clear step down from the first two Stephen Sommers blockbusters. Mummy 3 lacks the energy, scale, and humor of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, not to mention their director and star. With Rachel Weisz gone and Stephen Sommers relegated to producer, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is clearly a lesser caliber popcorn blockbuster. For late summer entertainment, it gets by. The sets and costumes are pretty, the characters are likable, and the action is fun, but there is no escaping that old familiar feeling of franchise fatigue. The most noticeable change for The Mummy 3 is the ancient history the filmmakers plunder for the story. Gone is ancient Egypt and, ironically, mummies. The background of Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is ancient China, where a ruthless emperor, played by Jet Li, and his army are cursed by Michelle Yeoh's immortal sorceress to become terra cotta statues for the rest of time. Of course the emperor has to be resurrected, so retired adventurers Rick and Evelyn O'Connell, as well as they're grown son Alex, can go through another series of conventional Indiana-Jones-style exploits. This is the type of story where there is a sacred book, curse, or crystal to suit any situation. There are admirable attempts to bring some familial drama to the stock adventuring, but the bottom line is, this is dopey, schlocky stuff. Not that anyone really cares about the plot of a Mummy movie.What really matters in an action adventure like this is the action and the adventure. This is where Sommers' movies really shined, and The Mummy 3 comes up short. While the sets and locations are attractive (I can never get enough of hidden temples or secret tombs, and the Himalayan/ Chinese ones here are nice) the director, Rob Cohen, just doesn't have the skill or personality to bring the pretty pictures to life. Stephen Sommers is no Martin Scorsese, but when it comes to personality, energy, or even action staging, he is a major leaguer. Cohen is playing Little League by comparison. Still, what Cohen does with the action is satisfactory. The obligatory shootouts, fights, and chases are diverting, sometimes fun, competently helmed popcorn action. Brendan Fraser and John Hannah, two thirds of the charming and good-natured cast from the previous two movies, return, and they do what they can. The exception is Rachel Weisz, replaced by Maria Bello who tries her best, but can't match Weisz' natural enthusiasm. With Bello, everything seems forced. She looks like Weisz and behaves like Weisz, but she just doesn't have the spark that Weisz brought to the character.In any case, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor can't quite pass this fan's summer adventure test. The filmmaking is subpar, and there are no surprises to discover. It's a hacky job from Cohen, who fails to make use of the lovely set and costume design, as well as Brendan Fraser's always-welcome manic energy. It's not impossible to enjoy The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It's a high-concept popcorn adventure. That alone keeps me interested, but I can't, in good conscience, recommend the movie. For fans it will be a diverting but disappointing step down in quality, for those who never embraced the goofy Mummy franchise, don't bother.52/100

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generationofswine
2008/08/06

Where did Rachel Weisz go? I'm sorry but it doesn't seem like a Mummy movie without her. I mean, they should have known, rarely do franchises or TV series survive when a key character is replaced by a new actor.James Bond and Bewitched are the only two examples I can really think of. Other than than the quality sort of plummets. Audiences don't except it.It would have been better just to write her character out.But then again, it doesn't seem like a Mummy movie without Egypt, or even the Mummy.So here you have a film with one of the main cast members replaced, another removed entirely, and the familiar setting totally removed. Of course people aren't going to like it.And they didn't. It totally killed the series.So now they are rebooting it and too soon. We can only hope they redo it entirely and shoot for a totally different Mummy movie, maybe a return to horror. just to distance from the reboot/remake" feel...but we already know they won't.The action and the humor are still there, but the changes make you feel like it's a cheap copy. It feels like an after-market Mummy film.

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annaheartnaylor
2008/08/07

This movie made slim to none sense, it was slow paced and the plot was all over the place. This Movie is stupid. Good effects though. You don't have to pay attention after that. I'm just writing random stuff now.. So. Potato, Potato, Potato Shark Cow. What am I writing -.- This is dumb. Yikes. OK. 1287 87878 9789. 7475 643786 9827019 8290831 -0984-9 385-740 1287198 7495871 9487549 8579834 65917346 598 1465894 5691485 61948 56194 -85 6-§9. 871 4865 =4608476 4=059 37509= 741 3098 7340 9856 7473 9501 9485 7109 2752 1097405 874095 7190 8409 374 039 2740 297 403. 8574 8965 8961 8345 -580 4375 12-0 8571 4-54 8037 5103 9745 2948 6723 8968 4935 71- 09238 571 0-9 34750 1972 435 0941 27.

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