The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

In the Far East, Alex O'Connell, the son of famed mummy fighters Rick and Evy O'Connell, unearths the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin -- a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago.

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writers:

Alfred Gough, Miles Millar,

Stars:

Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brendan Fraser	...	Rick O'Connell
Jet Li	...	Emperor
Maria Bello	...	Evelyn O'Connell
John Hannah	...	Jonathan Carnahan
Michelle Yeoh	...	Zi Yuan
Luke Ford	...	Alex O'Connell
Isabella Leong	...	Lin
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	General Yang (as Chau Sang Anthony Wong)
Russell Wong	...	Ming Guo
Liam Cunningham	...	Maguire
David Calder	...	Roger Wilson
Jessey Meng	...	Choi
Tian Liang	...	Li Zhou
Albert Kwan	...	Chu Wah
Jacky Wu	...	Assassin (as Wu Jing)

Storyline

Centuries ago, the evil Emperor Han was cursed by the sorceress Zi Yuan who transformed him and his army into mummies. In 1946, the explorer Rick O'Connell and his wife Evelyn O'Connell are invited by the British government to take a relic, the diamond "The Eye of Shangri-La" to China. The ancient stone is capable of resurrecting the Emperor Han and of pointing the way to Shangri-La and the eternal pool of life. When the couple reaches China, they meet their son Alex O'Connell, who has discovered the tomb of Han, and Evelyn's brother Jonathan Carnahan. The O'Connells are betrayed by their friend Prof. Roger Wilson, who is associated with General Yang. Yang wants to serve Emperor Han, so he resurrects the mummy and they head for Shangri-La. The guardian of Han's tomb (and Zi's daughter) Lin tells them that the only ways to destroy Han is to prevent him from reaching Shangri-La or by stabbing his heart with a cursed dagger.

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Plot Keywords:

emperor | mummy | shangri la | china | tomb | 

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Taglines:

A New Evil Awakens.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA China Germany Canada

Language:

English Mandarin Sanskrit

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mummy 3

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

$145,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£4,434,650 (UK) (8 August 2008)

Gross:

$102,176,165 (USA) (19 September 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Sommers Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Almost all of the technical crew from the Montreal filming location had custom made dog-tags with either "Foundation Soldier" or "Terracotta Warrior" and their names. The whole crew decided to do so after documentary filmmaker Todd Grossman and a few other crew members had some done for fun.

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Goofs

When the Emperor is first turned to stone, both arms are raised up and he is slightly hunched down. When he is unearthed, he is encased in a different Terra Cota warrior who is standing straight, one hand straight out, grasping the chariot's reins. However, when he breaks out, his hands are shown straight up and it is clear he is trapped inside another statue in his original position.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Zijuan: [about Han] When the emperor built the great wall, he buried his enemies underneath it. I will call them to battle once more.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Tribeca Bounce"
Written and Produced by Bruce Fowler
Performed by Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks Orchestra

User Reviews

Sadly disappointing

I do have a question, what ever happened to the slow walking lame Egyptian mummies? I mean, as silly as they are, they're still entertaining. Now we have The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, I loved The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, it was watchable, but this one was just an excuse to make some quick cash. I was actually looking forward to seeing this movie, I got the opportunity to see it today, I was excited, but unfortunately, we now have Chinese mummies that can do anything that will fit into the CGI budget. Another disappointment was the recasting of Evelyn, I know Rachel Weisz turned this script down, but she was seriously needed, Maria Bella, who is a decent actress, actually made Evie a very flat character and not as enjoyable. Then not only that, but we have Brendan and Maria who do look incredibly good for their age, they have a 20 year old son in the movie? This story was a waste of time and money.

The Emperor of China wanted to rule the entire world, but when a Chinese witch curses him and his army, he is put to sleep for thousands of years. Rick and Evie are now retired and have lost the spark in their relationship, but when they are asked to go to Shanghai to deliver a small little ball, they bump into their son who has discovered the Emperor. Rick and Evie are forced to wake the mummy by his followers. Now the whole family with Jonathan and the protector who was supposed to keep the emperor from rising, must destroy the Emperor or he will take over the entire world.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has some OK moments, I loved the beginning story and the ending battle scene is held pretty strong, it's worth the look for that, but I would say this is more of a rental. It's just a sad disappointment, considering how much better it could have been. The one liners were too cheesy and we have three headed dragons, karate kicking abdominal snow men, why not just go all the way and have leprechauns with machine guns? That's how out of control the CGI effects are. Luke Ford makes Brandon Fraiser look like Marlon Brando with his acting and the love story between him and the protector girl was useless. Like I said, wait for the rental, not the worst movie of this year, but a huge let down for sure.

5/10