Review of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) by Daniel K — 16 Aug 2010

Before this review proceeds any further, this reviewer must wholeheartedly confess that he has never been a fan of this franchise. The tongue-in-cheek monster mash-up thing just never really worked. Perhaps, it was Brendan Fraser?s community theater bravado?or the decidedly modern references lodged in a supposed period piece?or the fact that the whole mess was an Indiana Jones rip-off to begin with?or the unconvincing computer graphics. Well, the third go-round encompasses all of these foibles save for the last. Its CG technology having advanced, however, this Mummy sequel LOOKS great and can possibly boast being the most enjoyable of the series. But moviegoers have seen this tomfoolery before?namely Indy I-IV.

In this PG-13-rated romp, reluctant adventurers Rick and Evelyn O?Connell (Fraser, Maria Bello) face off against the resurrected Han Emperor (Li), a merciless ruler with a legion of supernatural warriors under his command.

A Raiders-esque hocus-pocus based architectural search in the desert? Check. A Temple-esque Shanghai romp complete with barn-burning plane ride? Check. A Crusade-esque near-death experience undone by immortal hooey? Check. A Kingdom-esque introduction of a hard-edged son who (surprise, surprise) is just like his father? Quadruple check. And this part bears particular inspection because the 39 year-old Fraser and 26 year-old Luke Ford look more like college buddies than father and son. But as long as John Q. Moviegoer is suspending his disbelief, Bello slips into a role vacated by Rachel Weisz with relative ease while director Rob Cohen slips into a chair vacated by Stephen Sommers with much aplomb.

Bottom line: Bad wrap.