The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Review

Cursed by critics, but worshipped by followers worldwide - how else do you explain the first two films' combined box office of over $800 million? - "The Mummy" franchise returns with a third movie, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". This time the action is transported to China, where in 200 BC the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) realises that his dream of conquering all of Asia will take more than one lifetime. Therefore, he commands the witch Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh) to make him immortal. But when the Emperor kills Zi Yuan's lover and tries to take her for himself, she curses him and his 10,000 warriors to live forever mummified in terracotta. Fast forward to 1946 and Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evy O'Connell (Maria Bello replacing Rachel Weisz) have retired from adventuring. However, their son Alex - first seen in "The Mummy Returns" - has grown up to be an archaeologist in his own right and aims to make a name for himself by excavating the titular tomb. When the O'Connells pay Alex a surprise visit they accidentally awaken the Emperor and the family must work together to stop the mummy from raising his army and taking over the world.

On paper - or should that be scroll? - "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" looks like it will be a significant step up from "Returns". OK, so Rachel Weisz doesn't reprise her role as Evy, but most of the original cast return and they're reinforced by martial arts legends Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. For all that Rob Cohen's films ("The Fast and the Furious", "xXx", etc.) are flawed in many, many ways, he is at least a competent action director. Above all, the script comes from "Smallville" creators and "Spiderman 2" scribes, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. However, it's this final, most promising element that lets the film down entirely. The script is terrible. It's full of the kind of cliched dialogue that any self-respecting teacher of screenwriting would have drummed out of their students by the end of the first day. For example, at one point the line "We have to make it to Shangri-La!" cuts straight to "Thank God we made it to Shangri-La!". With "Smallville", Gough and Millar succeeded in getting the audience to go along with the cliched dialogue and wooden acting as part of the fun. However, it takes time to establish that kind of relationship. Here Gough and Millar seem to have neither the time nor the inclination. Unsurprisingly, the performances suffer as a result.

Like "Returns", "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" suffers from having a predetermined release date and the CGI being divided between several effects houses in order to get it finished on time. So there's some good stuff and some not so good stuff. The Emperor in 'terracotta mummy mode' works really well - in one great action beat he rips off his own face to use it as a missile to throw at the O'Connells. However, the abominable snowmen are… well, abominable.

The only redeeming thing about the movie is the scenes between Li and Yeoh. The pair have been friends since working together on "The Tai Chi Master" (1993). Here they are allowed to let go of the discomfort of being in a Hollywood film and acting in a foreign language, and slip back into what is very familiar territory for them both, the martial arts epic. Consequently both act like they are in a completely different and much better movie.