The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

In true Mummy fashion, the film begins thousands of years ago, depicting the soon-to-be mummy doing his various naughty deeds. However, this movie is strikingly different as it is, of course, set in China. Having had a curse set on him by the woman he desired, Emperor Han (Jet Li) and his mighty army were cast in terracotta (bet you didn't see that coming) and await underground to be resurrected, when he can begin to destroy the world anew.

True to form, it is the O'Connells that manage to find him, but this time it is not Brendan Fraser who creeps onto the screen brandishing his revolver, but his now adult son, Alex (Luke Ford). He brings the statue of the Emperor back to Shenghai, where his proud parents greet him and congratulate him. However, things invariably go wrong when ruthless General Yang (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) shows up with his cohort of soldiers to reawaken the mummy. With the invincible Han now awakened, all manner of nastiness starts to happen, and it is bound to get worse. Only the O'Connells can stop the evil Emperor before he destroys the world, with the help of the locals, Yeti, and bumbling brother-in-law, Jonathan (John Hannah).

You may be expecting a great deal from this film; I certainly was, with the prospect of a third installment of the Mummy series, not to mention all the kung fu antics sure to erupt from the presence of Jet Li, but I was sorely disappointed. There are very few truly cool martial arts moments in the film, and any that do occur last for only about half a minute. There are some good battle scenes but nothing that shows off the skill of the martial artists.

This film does contrast strikingly to the previous two films. Of course, the entire setting is different so one would expect this, but any "Mummy" fans expecting the usual dark, foreboding corridors and echoes of a lost civilisation will be disappointed. The film has changed from quite a creepy, albeit tongue-in-cheek, adventure, to a more Indiana Jones-esque story, and does not live up to the hopes that surrounded this third installment.

Also, the appearance of Maria Bello as the character of Evelyn "Evie" O'Connell surprised me the most. She did not live up to the usual bouncy, rather eccentric character of Evie, instead making her seem much more "lady-like", instead of the usual action heroine. With such a setback so early on in the film, I think this may have coloured my opinion of the rest of the film, though you will have to make your own minds up.

That said, there are still some moments which make up for this film. John Hannah is on form as always, with some funny lines that lighten the mood of the film, and Brendan Fraser pulls off his usual gun-slinging, fearless American hero character with great gusto. There are also some brilliant special effects used that really make you say "wow!" and pull the film back in the usual direction of "The Mummy" films.

All in all I would give this film 2 and a half out of 5, but I would like to hear what you thought of this film when you saw it.

Your friendly film-critic,

Mr S.