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 plot element of Jonathan Carnehan as the owner of a casino attacked by the bad guys was planned for The Mummy Returns (2001), but it was cut due to budget constraints and, brought back for this film.

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Goofs

In ancient China, oracle bones were turtle shells that were heated during divination, the cracks that appeared across Chinese characters written on the shells were then interpreted to foretell the future.

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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

Featured in 20 to 1: Blockbuster Heroes (2010)

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Soundtracks

Tulsa Oklahoma
Written by Ed Palermo, John Palermo
Performed by Eugene Ruffolo
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari / MasterSource

User Reviews

Cack

Well.. I went to see this film on its debut and had to queue for 30 minutes to experience the end of the mummy series.

I have read that Maria Bello and Luke Ford have signed up for more fun-filled CGI Mummies however after this showing it will be direct to DVD.

Rob Cohen had a hard act to follow taking over from an already popular franchise and he attempted to take it in a completely new direction, however he has failed. This film centres around Alex O' Connell and the tomb of the dragon emperor. Alex (Luke Ford) Is not too bad as he looks like his dad Rick (Brendan Fraser) But he hams it up and attempts to play the lead role and poorly attempts to replicate him. Fraser is not the same action packed player as portrayed in the previous movies, He is an old fashioned tomb raider and past it on this showing. Evelyn - now played by Mario Bello has not got the same chemistry with Rick (Fraser) They seem like complete strangers throughout and her tackey English accent seems to be enough for her to be the replacement for Rachel Weiz.... Well Give me a Wig and i'll do it better..

Jet Li is not in this film very much (and when he is, he is portrayed by a suspect looking poreclain figure who breathes fire) and i believe he is only here as he is massive in asia and this will probably push the Mummy 3 ahead of Batman!! - Good move by the producers ey!!!

The only saving grace for this film is John Hannah(Jonathan) as his character has not changed and he is the same bumbling divv as he was before- he offers mild comic relief and opens a nice plot for any future films - please no!!!!

Overall The mummy needs to take a rest for a while, despite its popularity and its millions at the box office- where can it go???

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