The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Rated: PG-13 for adventure action and violence.
Release Date: 2008-08-01
Starring: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Director(s):
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Country: NULL
Official Website: http://robcohenthemummy.com/

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THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR IS NO RELIC

Make no bones about it, The Mummy franchise is and always has been a blatant attempt to recreate the Indiana Jones lore.  In this third installment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the similarities are even more apparent.  Rick ‘Ricochet’ O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) is Indy of course; Maria Bello (who replaces Rachel Weisz as Evelyn) is their version of ‘Marion’; and their son Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford) matches up with Indiana’s heir apparent, Mutt Williams (as played by Shia LaBeouf).

Unfortunately, the similarities also extend to the campiness, predictability, and unintelligent plot lines of ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.  Come to think of it, even their titles are both ridiculously long. 

This time around, the O’Connells travel to Asia to battle the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li), awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse that a chinese sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) cast on him.  The film, to its credit, moves along rather quickly with one battle scene following another, and its a good thing because the acting is often unbearable.  At times, I couldn’t shake the feeling that newcomer Luke Ford, was doing his best Matt Damon impression.  Just a terrible pick altogether to play Brendan Fraser’s son, since they look only a couple of years apart.   An army of mummies, yetis in the himalayas and witchery I can believe, but Luke Ford playing Rick’s son, not a chance.

Of the three films, this one seems like the most poorly thought out as it strives to become more of a family adventure, than the thrilling archeological escapades in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ that most likely inspired the filmmakers in the first place.  I assure you that years from now, these films will be no relic.