Director: Rob Cohen
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Mario Bello, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, John Hannah and Isabella Leong
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: 2/5
Sequels are a tricky business. The film not only should stand out on its own as a single entity, but also has to bear the pressure of comparison to its prequel. In 1999, the first of the mummy sequel, The Mummy hit the screen. It combined a well-charactered ensemble with sly wit combined with good computer generated imagery, which eventually became a box-office as well as a critical success. In 2001, the second installment, The Mummy Returns also lived up to its hype. Come 2008, the franchise continues with its third offering The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately, the third installment of the Mummy series provides nothing more than an average popcorn fare. Rather than elevating the franchise on to a whole new level, the movie fails miserably and hangs on to a flimsy plotline that is way too predictable and boring.
The movie starts off with the same 'world domination' and 'evil dictator' theme that has been used as a plot element about a gazillion times. Han (Jet Li) is the ruthless emperor of 200 BC China, who wants to become immortal and eventually take over the whole world. For this task, he seeks help from a mysterious sorceress Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) who, in turn is cheated and is forcibly asked to become the emperor's queen. Juan then curses the emperor and his armies and turns them into terracotta figurines. Eventually the tomb is discovered and is awoken by the O'Connells (Brendan Fraser, Mario Bello, Luke Ford) from a long 2000-year-old curse. As the monarch roars back to life, his quest for world domination has only become stronger than ever. Then a mad chase begins between the emperor and the O'Connells.
The movie lacks the thrill and excitement required badly for an adventure movie to work. An adventure movie should be able to transport the viewers to the uncharted territories. But the Mummy 3 repeats the same story seen earlier on the previous installments, only in a new setting. Everyone who has been following the Mummy franchise since 1999 will see that the movie has taken a serious downturn in terms of storytelling and almost other aspects. The witty humour and the engrossing plot line are the most crucial elements that have been left behind. Even though it's practically the same ensemble, the well thought-out characters that we have come to love from the previous movies seem to have lost their characteristics; and that is a huge disadvantage for the movie.
In terms of acting, the thin plot of the movie also hampers the actors' performance. Brendan Fraser, in spite of proving his mettle in the other prequels, has nothing special to offer this time. Mario Bello, who replaced Rachel Weisz as the sweet and smart Evelyn O'Connell is nothing to write home about. She simply cannot portray Evelyn's character as Rachel Weisz did with so much grace and charm. Jet Li is good as the evil emperor and once again proves that he is the master of martial arts. Michele Yeoh, despite her limited appearances gives a good performance.
Director Rob Cohen, who has given us tight films like XXX and The Fast and the Furious, seems to have lost it this time. It looks as if he's been inspired by the slew of brainless blockbusters to hit the screen in the recent times; flashy movies without any soul. Mummy 3 features extravagant fight sequences featuring fireworks, avalanches and even yetis. But even those things don't fill the gap made by the weak storyline.Weak writing has hampered what could have been the best of the whole franchise.
