The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor DVD: Review By Kenneth Albert

When sifting through lists of upcoming films I can’t help but wonder why certain films are made, especially when it comes to sequels/prequels. A few months ago when reading that a second sequel in the Mummy franchise was in the works and I thought to myself, “Really?” I had my doubts though and for good reasons. The fact that Rachel Weisz would not be resuming her role in the series was very disappointing since her and Fraser had great in-screen chemistry in the previous films and because she’s an amazing actress. But what worried me even more so was that director Stephen Sommers would not be returning to continue the series (due to directing the live action G.I. Joe film) and the duties have been passed onto Rob Cohen, the man responsible for cinematic blunders such as Stealth and xXx. Needless to say, the positives and negatives are evenly matched.

This time around Rick O’Connell (Fraser) and his wife Evie (Maria Bello) have to contend with the resurrected Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) who’s been recently unearthed by their now older son Alex (Luke Ford). The emperor is determined to revive his gigantic army and continue his conquest of the world but not before Rick puts his mummy killing skills to the test. Along for the adventure, Rick’s goofy bother-in-law (once again played by John Hannah), Rick’s pilot friend (Liam Cunningham) and a family of immortals (Michelle Yeoh and Isabella Leong).

From the start the film has it’s problems, reoccurring characteristics have always found their way into the series such as weak special effects, bad editing (the use of the same scene twice) and numerous attempts at comedic relief that succeed only a handful of times. It’s also very easy to see that story is very similar to that of Returns with the last 20 minutes being almost exactly the same, a huge battle ensues between armies and Rick going head-to-head with a mummy with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Some smaller flaws are also noticeable, once such that I found quite irritating is that Alex’s accent is mysteriously missing. You would think somebody involved in the production would have picked-up on it but sadly it goes unresolved.

The film is full of flaws, big and small, but it does have its good qualities. Brendan Fraser (whom I feel is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood) keeps things fun with his witty attitude and overall great acting and though I was weary of Weisz not being in the film, Bello does a good job of handling her character as well as being Fraser’s love interest. The action sequences are as good as the past films with everyone getting their hands dirty, especially during battle in the Himalayas where even the abominable snowmen have some fun of their own at the expense of the emperor’s flunkies.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is by no means a great film but I won’t go as far as to call it bad either. It’s my 2nd favorite installment of the series; being slightly better than the first but not as good as Returns. In the end, it’s borderline campy like the predecessors and is enjoyable if you don’t think too much while watching it.