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The latest adventure in The Mummy franchise takes a break from sand storms and Scorpion Kings, shifting the action to Asia.
Fraser
returns as explorer Rick O’Connell to combat the resurrected stone
infused Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic event which traverses
the catacombs of ancient China to the hights of the Himalayas. In tow is
wife Evelyn (now played by Maria Bello), her brother Jonathan (John
Hannah) and son Alex (Aussie actor Luke Ford).
The argument could be
made that the reason that the original Mummy adventures did so well
(the first two grossed a combined Box Office haul of over $850 Million
worldwide) was purely because there was a public thirst for another
Indiana Jones adventure. But even if that was the case, they were both
well-put-together flicks.
But eight years later, not only have
audiences been given a taste of Indy, but also a healthy serve of
Treasure Hunter junk in the form of National Treasure. So, from the
beginning, not only is demand for the genre low... but now it has
expectations to meet.
And it's in that regard, along with many others, The Mummy 3 fails.
Director
Rob Cohen (XxX, Fast & The Furious) takes over the reigns from
Steven Sommers for this installment - and it shows - with Tomb of the
Dragon Emperor spiraling out of control, resulting in one of the most
overblown pieces of garbage to hit TV screens. And that's
saying a lot when you consider some of the other big budget
disappointments we've been subjected to in the last few years.
The first two
Mummy movies were always a little popcorn - but the good kind. They
borrowed heavily from the old B-Grade movies of yesteryear, gave a
respectful nod of the hat to Jones, yet still kept a sense of
originality and uniqueness to them.
However, The Mummy : Tomb of
the Dragon Emperor seems to be taking all the dumbest elements of
National Treasure and then making them worse.
There is just so
little that works here. The performances are left for dead thanks
largely to a script which is comprised with little more than "I hate
Mummies" quips. Yes, "Why won't you just die!" one liners are part and
parcel, and one of the most enjoyable factors of these sorts of
flicks... but only when they are spliced in amidst a script. So when
the entire movie is like that, it just doesn't work.
Add to that
the fact that Fraser looks about 20 years too young to have a son, the
SFX vary from superb (the Yeti is a highlight) to downright
Straight-To-DVD (a shot early on in which the Emperor turns into goo),
Jet Li barely turning up on screen... and the the kicker... a very
prominent and very forced "relationship drama" between Fraser and his
son.
Somehow we are meant to believe that young O'Connell hates
his dad. But at no point does Fraser give off the slightest sense of
unlikability. He is constantly fun, he is young and even when he tries
to be stern - he still seems like he is just joking around. It's almost
painful (but moreso incomprehensible) to watch. How often is it you
hear an actor being criticised for being too easy to like? Never! But
that's the skill Fraser brings to the table and in this case it works
against the film.
That said, The Mummy 3 does serve as a decent
enough "leave-your-brain-at-the-door" Friday night popcorn adventure -
it's just not a particularly good one. The scriptwriters have also
fleshed out the potential "Son of..." sequels a great deal better than
was acheived in Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls
(in fact, there are times you kind of wish they'd merged the better
elements of both of those scripts to make one good treasure hunter
movie) with Aussie Luke Ford delivering a strong performance in his first major US outing.
It must be also be said that there are some pretty cool action sequences as well, so it's not a total write off.
The
Mummy : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
is more of an expensive Hollywood indulgence than an overly enjoyable
movie. But it's not without charm. However if it's quality
adventure Fraser fans are after, it
might pay to hold out for the far superior Journey To The Centre of the Earth.
The
Mummy franchise is certain to be resurrected again, but let's just hope
they put a bit more thought into its rotting carcass than
they have with this latest outing. DVD EXTRAS
There's some commentary from Brendan Fraser that adds some insight into the making of the feature film, and a few little tid bits here and there on special effects but nothing that really warrants writing home about. Conclusion:
Movie: 40% Extras: 20%
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