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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 7 out of 10 Posted: 08/08/08
Running time: 1:51 MPAA rating: PG-13 (Adventure action and violence.) Peruvian rating: Mayores de 14
Cast:
Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John
Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong.
Score:
Randy Edelman |
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I know the original Mummy isn’t precisely a great movie, but it's nevertheless one of my favorite adventure flicks of all time. (Yes, of all time.) Its sequel, The Mummy Returns, wasn’t as fresh as it predecessor, but it did entertain me with its silly plot, sense of adventure and excess of special effects. Now, in 2008, the third installment of the series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, has been released. Is there any difference? Well, we have a new director (Rob Cohen of Dragonheart and XXX fame), new writers, and a new actress portraying the character of Evey. Does the film disappoint? If I have to be honest (and yes I should) then I would say, yes, it does disappoint. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the film. Dragon Emperor was fun in a silly and preposterous kind of way, something of a guilty pleasure, and although it wasn’t as enjoyable as its predecessors, I just can’t say I wasn’t entertained by it.
The film tells the story of Emperor Han (Jet Li) who, as we learn in the prologue, after uniting China, decides to conquer his final enemy: death. In order to accomplish this, he calls on the witch Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh), since it is said that she knows the secret of immortality. Unfortunately, she falls in love with Han's general, and because he had made him promise that “no man should touch her”, (he desired her), he executes him. As a result, the witch curses him and his soldiers, turning them into terracotta statues. They are entombed and wait in silence until Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford), Rick’s son, discovers them in 1947. His parents, Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn (Maria Bello), arrive to Shanghai as part of a trap, and eventually help their son on the quest to keep the Emperor from achieving immortality and enslaving all mankind. They are helped by Alex's Uncle Jonathan (John Hannah) and Lin (Isabella Leong), who seems to know everything about the Emperor, and starts to develop feelings for Alex.
Now that I think about it, I really don’t know why I enjoyed Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I just did. Maybe it’s got to do with the fact that the action sequences are incredibly preposterous and silly, or that the film is full of special effects that, while sometimes fake-looking, add a tiny bit to the overall sense of silliness. Also, you gotta admire a director that has the guts to insert Yetis into his movie – they are computer-generated, of course, and behave like cute teddy bears, (although they roar and throw people from time to time) helping our heroes under the orders of Lin, who seems to “speak Yeti.” Yes, Dragon Emperor has it all: abominable snowmen, CGI three-headed dragons, zombie armies (who keep getting called “mummies”, maybe as an excuse for the film’s title) and CGI avalanches that don’t seem to have any effect on our beloved Yetis. It’s all as inane as it sounds, but it somehow works in the context of the film – the only “negative” aspect about this is that the screenplay is twenty times sillier than the previous outings, so it doesn’t really compare to Sommers’ Mummy films.
Actually, one thing I didn’t like about this first installment was that it doesn’t have the same feeling as the previous movies. Maybe it’s the fact that the setting has changed from Egypt to China. In my review for The Mummy Returns, I mentioned that this change might bring some freshness into the franchise. Well, it doesn’t, but it definitely makes it feel… different. A little less dark, maybe. The first Mummy was an excellent blend of comedy, action and horror. The problem this particular film has is that it’s got tons of action, a lot of humour, but no horror; there is only ONE “boo!” moment in the whole film. I know these flicks are supposed to be Indiana Jones knock-offs, but I would’ve appreciated if Cohen and team had returned to the tone of the first installment. This movie is sometimes a little too cheesy for its own good. (And yes, all of that has to do with the friggin’ Yetis.)
While not a memorable character, Brendan Fraser’s O’Connell has become part of popular culture and has stayed in the minds of many moviegoers, so it was only natural that he’d return. He plays the character the same way as always, once again proving that a.) he can portray any kind of character, and b.) he’s an underrated action star. The problem, though, is that in this movie he has to share screentime with Luke Ford. In The Mummy Returns, Alex played the part of a child sidekick, and as portrayed by Freddie Boath, it was a believable and charismatic character. In Dragon Emperor, Alex behaves more like a competing leading man. Who is the real protagonist, Rick or Alex? The filmmakers don’t seem to know, and that is the problem. John Hannah does return, though, as Jonathan the comic-relief-guy, and provides with most of the humour in the film. The thing is, he isn’t exactly the same. I think he acts like more over-the-top here than in the previous films, and some of his jokes don’t work as good as his antics in the first and second parts. Still, John Hannah is the kind of person who manages to capture the audience whenever he plays a comedic part, so I shouldn’t complain about him.
“And what about Evey?”, you might be asking. By now, most people reading this review will know that Rachel Weisz was replaced by Maria Bello in the role. Well, I admit Weisz is horribly missed. Bello is not bad (actually, she’s a very good and “brave” (meaning she doesn’t mind getting naked in films) actress – watch A History of Violence for some of her best work), but she doesn’t compare to Weisz. Firstly, she’s not British, meaning her accent doesn’t flow as naturally as Weisz (why the hell wasn’t a British actress cast in the role?), and secondly, she sometimes goes horribly over-the-top. My girlfriend hated the character because of this. I do like the way she’s introduced, though. Suffice is to say that her first appearance is shot and scripted in a way that hints that the movie knows this is a different actress and that it will be portrayed differently. In a more serious flick, this kind of introduction would’ve been awkward, but since everything is so silly, it fits beautifully.
The special effects, while not groundbreaking, were decent. The terracotta army and the terracotta Emperor looked cool and some of the backgrounds and settings were pretty; the Yetis looked barely all right (their design was cool, but the way they animated looked way too cartoonish), and the final battle, while not as obviously-digital as the Anubis warriors and the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns, was only OK. There is nothing to get excited about in visual terms; it all looked all right, but the problem was I knew every time I was watching CGI. That isn’t the real complaint, though. What I felt was awkward was Rob Cohen’s direction. Firstly, he totally wasted Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. Here we have some of the best Chinese martial artists in the world, together in one movie, and the best Cohen can gives us is a thirty-second battle shot in a way the viewer doesn’t understand a thing he/she is watching? Come on! Additionally, some of the camera angles he used were funny, and the editing was far from perfect. (The Star Wars-style wipes were used effectively, though.) I definitely miss Sommers’ style; at least he had the decency of presenting action sequences in a clear manner…
Despite all of its flaws and problems, I enjoyed Tomb of the Dragon Emperor without feeling that bad about it. This is the kind of film that demands its viewers to suspend a lot their disbelief, mainly because it provides with monsters, CGI Yetis and mummies that don’t look like mummies. I liked the fact that the film’s ending hints at our heroes going to Peru. (For those who don’t know, I’m Peruvian.) I just hope the filmmakers, unlike Spielberg, Lucas and David Koepp, do some actual research for The Mummy 4 and don’t create a “Mexican Peru” for their film. (No matter what they do, they can’t be as inaccurate as Indy 4.) It would be cool if they shot the movie here in Peru, even. But is a Mummy 4 really worth crafting? Considering many people have disliked this movie, I’m not sure. (I’m not even sure if I’d endure more of this kind of silly fun.) All I’ll say is I’d pay for a Mummy movie set in my home country. As long as they don’t insert any more Yetis…
©2008 Sebastián Zavala - Star Wars Epica