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

2 wins & 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 Chau-Sang Wong	...	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
Jing Wu	...	Assassin

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 are to prevent him from reaching Shangri-La or by stabbing his heart with a cursed dagger.

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Plot Keywords:

shared universe | 3rd century b.c. | oxfordshire south east englend | motor car | male professor | 

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Taglines:

A New Evil Awakens.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filmmakers originally considered bringing back Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep, except this time, he's a least-resort ally who helps the heroes defeat the Dragon Emperor. Vosloo hated the script and didn't want to make a Mummy movie without Stephen Sommers, so he declined to return. Oded Fehr was also asked to reprise his role as Ardeth Bay. Fehr declined because Imhotep was not to be in the film, and had felt that if there was no Imhotep, then Ardeth Bay had no point or reason to appear in the movie.

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Goofs

When we first see Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) he is apparently fly-fishing in a river in Oxfordshire. However, the visible geology of the river is not found in Oxfordshire (exposed tilted rock beds, pebbled river beds). This is more likely either elsewhere in the UK, or more likely, a location in the US.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [narrating] Long ago, a mythic battle between good and evil played out in ancient China. The country was torn by civil war, with many kingdoms struggling for land and power. But one king had a ruthless ambition to make himself emperor by the sword.

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Crazy Credits

The Universal Studios logo doesn't stop as normal, instead the title fades out from the revolving globe and the camera begins zooming in over the Atlantic Ocean and hovers over China as an on-screen graphic is shown displaying the separate feudal states of China around 350 BC, each labeled in Chinese characters. The dividing lines disappear and then the Chinese characters all merge together into two characters that then change to the English word: CHINA.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #7.6 (2008)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Meh...

Now, I'm not one to bash the Mummy series. Sure, they've never been masterpieces of brilliance, but they've always had a charm to them both in adventure in comedy which I've loved though I and II. However, at a test screening I attended in LA, I sat through the entire film, and kept waiting for it to get better. Now, the premise was solid and I thoroughly enjoyed each character for what they were (i.e., they did what they were supposed to do). However, I didn't really care what happened to anyone. I actually think that Jet Li did the best acting, but Frasier still put on a good show. Humor-wise, the only times the audience laughed were when:

A) A really bad line came up (trust me, there's allot) B) The guy sitting behind me started laughing randomly

So, the final verdict in my opinion is, if you've seen the first two mummies, see it! It brings back the feel of the other Mummies, so you get what you paid for. However, don't expect the same. Expect a little less. The actors/ writers clearly expected the charm and past of the characters to carry over, thinking that we've already been won over. Thus, they don't really even try.

Whelp, it's okay. There you have it. I really wanted to like it more than I did, but it was so outlandishly stupid at times and nobody else was laughing that I couldn't get into it. I'd say it was the same as the new Hulk film possibly. It's okay, you get what you expected, and then it's over.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany China Canada

Language:

English Mandarin Sanskrit

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Rick O'Connell Adventure

Filming Locations:

Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England

Box Office

Budget:

$145,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,457,770, 3 August 2008

Gross USA:

$102,491,776

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$403,449,830

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, The Sommers Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1