Mummy, The: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

Movie

Rating: PG-13 (adventure action and violence)
Length: 112 minutes

Video

Widescreen 2.40:1 Color 1080p High-Def

Audio

ENGLISH: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
ENGLISH: DTS 5.1
FRENCH: DTS 5.1
SPANISH: DTS 5.1

Captions

English, French, Spanish

Purchase

Plot

Well, no more Imhotep, this time it's a Chinese General mummy that must be destroyed before, you guess it, he wreaks havoc on planet Earth. The O'Connell's agree to return an artifact to China and run into their son who just dug up the General's tomb. Artifact, tomb; you can figure out the rest.

Pros

The good news is that they decided to change things up by not bringing back the same old story. There are only two actors left from the original films with Maria Bello taking over for Rachel Weisz as the loving wife. And I have to give Maria credit, she kept the character the same and did a very good job; if there's a fourth movie she will be able to make the character her own. The special effects were up to the challenge and there's still the tongue-in-cheek humor that I loved from the previous films. And, like the last film, whenever the action slows down, the two O'Connell's spend most of the time in a lip-lock. And, being a huge fan of Michelle Yeoh, I was very pleased to hear she would be starring in this film.

Cons

Despite the very good effort that Maria put forth, it was still weird not having Rachel playing the quirky role. Michelle Yeoh does not get much screen time and the only reason they got Jet Li was for the name recognition. The story was straight forward but letting the Dragon King morph into whatever he wanted got old real fast; it was like an easy way to fill in plot holes. And unlike a lot of film goers, I liked the Yeti.

Extras

U-Control: The Dragon Emperor's Challenge
U-Control: Know Your Mummy
U-Control: Scene Explorer
U-Control: Visual Commentary
Picture in Picture
The Making of "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
From City to Desert
Legacy of the Terra Cotta
Preparing for Battle with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li
Jet Li: Crafting the Emperor Mummy
Creating New and Supernatural Worlds
Deleted and Extended Scenes

Recommendation

Was this film necessary? No. It was done for one thing and one thing only; making more money off an already profitable franchise. It doesn't have the cohesiveness and chemistry of the previous films but that is to be expected since it had different writers and director. It was still fun and looked/sounded terrific in high-def. And yes, if they decide to continue this franchise I'll be at the store picking up that DVD the day it's released just as I was for this one.

Director

Rob Cohen [Dragonheart, The Fast and the Furious, xXx]

Actors

Maria Bello - Evelyn O’Connell: [Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), Auto Focus, A History of Violence, Payback, Secret Window]
David Calder - Prof. Roger Wilson: [Jason and the Argonauts, The World is not Enough]
Liam Cunningham - Mad Dog Maguire: [Dog Soldiers, First Knight]
Luke Ford - Alex O'Connell
Brendan Fraser - Richard 'Rick' O'Connell: [Bedazzled, The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns, The Quiet American]
John Hannah - Jonathan Carnahan: [The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns]
Albert Kwan - Chu Wah
Isabella Leong - Lin
Jet Li - Emperor Han: [Hero, Lethal Weapon 4, Tai Chi Master, War]
Tian Liang - Li Zhou
Jessey Meng - Choi
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang - General Yang: [The Medallion]
Russell Wong - General Ming Guo: [Twisted]
Jacky Wu - Assassin #1
Michelle Yeoh - Zi Juan: [Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Sunshine, Tai Chi Master, Tomorrow Never Dies]

Links

IMDB
DVD Verdict
High-Def Digest