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

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (2008)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Zero stars (F)

There is something peculiar about Brendan Fraser. In some movies, like
the underrated "Blast From the Past," he is nothing short of
stupendous and full of a kind of manic energy that is quite inspired.
In "The Mummy" series, he is so boring and insipid, words I've used
far too many times, that it is a shock anyone considered casting him.
Heck, Fraser looks the part of a 40's stock leading man with an
oversized head and has got the goods to deliver a wickedly inspired
performance, but he never cuts loose. Not once, not in the entire
"Mummy" series. And this latest snoozefest, "Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor," has about as much to do with mummies as Indiana Jones has to
do with cockroaches.

Fraser is the Rick O'Connell character, an Egyptologist who spends his
days fishing, bored out of his numbskull because he so glories the
days of shooting mummies and experiencing high adventure. And his
wife, Evelyn (now played by a less spirited Maria Bello, replacing
Rachel Weisz), is yearning for those days as well, especially after
writing two bestselling books. And they live with a butler in a
mansion right out of Bruce Wayne country. Yawn. But their son, Alex
(Luke Ford), is spirited and has high adventure on his mind. The plot
has to do with an accidentally revived 4,000 year-old Chinese emperor
(Jet Li) who can command all the elements to start an avalanche but
has a little problem fighting Yetis (a furry pack of giant Abonimable
Snowmans that look about as real as the werewolf in "Van Helsing").
Rick and Evelyn decide to help their son fight the evil emperor and
the entire Terracotta army, which takes them to Shangri-La. Also in
accompaniment is an immortal Chinese woman and her mother, but the
less said about that, the better.

I wish I enjoyed this movie but, alas, like the previous "Mummy"
films, there is no sense of jeopardy, wit, adventure or anything on
the level of awe. Fraser has seen these special-effected skeleton
armies and mummified remains come to life so often, it seems he is
yawning just looking at them (this is dully reflected in his dialogue
to boot). Same with Maria Bello. They could care less and the urgency
is lost. Jet Li is mostly animated in this film, which means anyone
could've played this role, and Michelle Yeoh as a sorceress somehow
maintains a straight face but her one shared moment with Li is short-
shrifted for more CGI, less humanity. To make things worse, the movie
is frantically cut from so many angles, particularly during the action
scenes, that all sense of spatial continuity is lost (seriously, how
many different angles does an explosion need to be seen from?) This
"Mummy" film deserves entombment.


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