Today’s post begins with a fractal called CELESTIAL DRAGON. I chose it because of the connection to the title of the movie I’ll be reviewing today. Hope you enjoy both the image and review.-
Most critics consider the “Mummy” franchise to be a poor man’s version of the “Indiana Jones” movie. You have the dashing adventurer, the “great peril”, the witty banter and big battles. Still, the “Mummy” series never quite reached the heights that it’s more well-regarded cousin did. Maybe it’s the quality of the people involved or the lower budgets but that never stopped the Mummy franchise from being fun. In this latest outing The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the movie is still fun but it has begun to lose some of its charm.
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For the latest outing the action shifts from Egypt to China. (I guess the old story line was played out after two movies and a spin-offs.) Rick and Evelyn O’Connell have “retired” from archaeology and settled into domestic bliss after “the War.” while their son Alex, now a young adult, has dropped out of college and gone off to be a tomb raider (my description) in China with an old enemy of his parents. After discovering the tomb of the “Dragon Emperor” (a truly evil dude under a curse). The O’Connells are drawn to Shanghai where they meet up with their belligerent son, the curse is lifted and the movie progresses pretty much as you’d expect from there…
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The movie is stuffed full of big fight scenes (with both stunt men and CGI) that are as good as any summer movie-goer could wish for. The costumes and sets are pretty darn good but some of the CGI effects are simply too obvious. The filmmakers did a fine job of staying within period: still, I found it particularly disturbing when characters dropped in anachronistic bits for the sake of humor. That being said, I doubt that most of the movie’s target audience would even notice it was being done. I also doubt that they care that the humor is about on a “Junior High School” level.
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Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t find Brendan fraser quite as charming this time out as I did the last time. Maria Bello is a suitable replacement for Rachel Wise as Evelyn. (She also gets the single slyest line in the whole movie--for those who know the franchise at least.) Luke Ford is a suitably hunky as Alex but I found his wandering accent distracting. (If an actor is going to do an accent he should be consistent!) John Hannah is back as Evelyn’s ne’er do well brother Jonathan (who always seems to be the catalyst for Mummy raising) and a host of Chinese actors get featured parts--particularly Jet Li as the titular Dragon Emperor.
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Really, there’s nothing “new” in this installment but “Mummy” fans will probably enjoy this outing--even if it won’t do anything to convert non-fans. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a big, sprawling, park-your-brain-at-the-door fun fest. It’s a fine diversion for a hot weekend afternoon and will probably play well on DVD.
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FINAL GRADE: C+
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