The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writers (WGA):

Alfred Gough (written by) &
Miles Millar (written by)

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A New Evil Awakens.

Plot:

In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick and Alex O'Connell unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago. |

Plot Keywords:

Studio Logo Segues Into Film | No Opening Credits | General | Booby Trap | King

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Brendan Fraser	...	Rick O'Connell
Jet Li	...	Emperor Han
Maria Bello	...	Evelyn O’Connell
John Hannah	...	Jonathan Carnahan
Michelle Yeoh	...	Zi Juan
Luke Ford	...	Alex O'Connell
Isabella Leong	...	Lin
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	General Yang (as Chau Sang Anthony Wong)
Russell Wong	...	General Ming Guo
Liam Cunningham	...	Mad Dog Maguire
David Calder	...	Prof. Roger Wilson
Jessey Meng	...	Choi
Tian Liang	...	Li Zhou
Albert Kwan	...	Chu Wah
Jacky Wu	...	Assassin #1 (as Wu Jing)

Also Known As:

Momie - La tombe de l'empereur dragon, La (Canada: French title)
Mumie - Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers, Die (Germany)
The Mummy 3 (USA) (informal title)
Untitled Rick O'Connell Adventure (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Germany | Canada | USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Malaysia:U | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Finland:K-13 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Brazil:12 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:11 | Australia:M | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Brendan Fraser, who plays Rick, was born in 1968, and Maria Bello who plays Evelyn, was born in 1967, while Luke Ford, who plays their son Alex, was born in 1981 and is only 13 years younger than Fraser and 14 years younger than Bello.

Goofs:

Factual errors: They fly to the Himalayas in a Beaufighter, a WWII single-seat fighter and bomber, not a transport aircraft. The plane has the color scheme and code markings of a Royal Australian Air Force Beaufighter that served in the South East Asia Command, which included India, Burma, and Southern China.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
[upon seeing an army of the undead]
Rick O'Connell: So these are the good undead guys, right?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (#15.12)" (2008)

Sadly disappointing

I do have a question, what ever happened to the slow walking lame Egyptian mummies? I mean, as silly as they are, they're still entertaining. Now we have The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, I loved The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, it was watchable, but this one was just an excuse to make some quick cash. I was actually looking forward to seeing this movie, I got the opportunity to see it today, I was excited, but unfortunately, we now have Chinese mummies that can do anything that will fit into the CGI budget. Another disappointment was the recasting of Evelyn, I know Rachel Weisz turned this script down, but she was seriously needed, Maria Bella, who is a decent actress, actually made Evie a very flat character and not as enjoyable. Then not only that, but we have Brendan and Maria who do look incredibly good for their age, they have a 20 year old son in the movie? This story was a waste of time and money.

The Emperor of China wanted to rule the entire world, but when a Chinese witch curses him and his army, he is put to sleep for thousands of years. Rick and Evie are now retired and have lost the spark in their relationship, but when they are asked to go to Shanghai to deliver a small little ball, they bump into their son who has discovered the Emperor. Rick and Evie are forced to wake the mummy by his followers. Now the whole family with Jonathan and the protector who was supposed to keep the emperor from rising, must destroy the Emperor or he will take over the entire world.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has some OK moments, I loved the beginning story and the ending battle scene is held pretty strong, it's worth the look for that, but I would say this is more of a rental. It's just a sad disappointment, considering how much better it could have been. The one liners were too cheesy and we have three headed dragons, karate kicking abdominal snow men, why not just go all the way and have leprechauns with machine guns? That's how out of control the CGI effects are. Luke Ford makes Brandon Fraiser look like Marlon Brando with his acting and the love story between him and the protector girl was useless. Like I said, wait for the rental, not the worst movie of this year, but a huge let down for sure.

5/10