Mummy, The: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Blu-ray)

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The 1999 loose remake of the 1932 film "The Mummy" expanded the summer blockbuster season into early may and became one of my all-time favorite popcorn films. It cemented my belief that Brendan Fraser is one the men Hollywood should be trying to utilize to replace Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone as a big-time action hero. The first decade of the 2000s should have seen Fraser, Vin Diesel and Eric Bana become today´s big action heroes and "The Mummy" was such a wonderful thrill ride and showcased Fraser´s ability to convey humor and adventure into a role in an everyman manner that has not been seen since Harrison Ford let his "Indiana Jones" fedora gather dust. However, Fraser would return for the less-than-stellar sequel "The Mummy Returns" to carry on the adventurer´s torch, but he would not return before Indy dusted off the fedora and showed the studio executives how an adventure film should be done as "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" continues to disappoint after its stellar original film.

Before getting into details, do not feel as if I do not like "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." I enjoy it. There is some fun to be had and Fraser is quite comfortable as adventurer Rick O´Connell. Jet Li provided a wonderful villain for Fraser to face off against. The gorgeous Maria Bello filled in rather nicely for Rachel Weisz and having John Hannah return is a strong benefit for the picture. The backdrop of China´s mysterious Terracotta army was a wonderful concept to base the third "Mummy" film against. I could watch the O´Connell character bumble through as many re-animated mummies as they can throw against him and his desire to use both fisticuffs and revolvers continues to make him the second best adventurer after the benchmark character of Dr. Henry Jones Jr. Hannah is wonderful comedy relief and having one of the truly great martial artists playing an ancient Chinese emperor is brilliance. These are strong aspects that should have made "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" a worthwhile experience.

Then there are the things I do not like about the film and the reasons why "Tom of the Dragon Emperor" currently sits on Rotten Tomatoes with a poor rating of 14%. The first thing is the horrendous decision to have young Alex become a young man who has become a rival adventurer to his father. I have nothing against Luke Ford and his performance as Alex, but this film takes place exactly eight years after the previous sequel. Alex was to have been roughly nine or ten years old at that time and I would have bought into him being a snotty seventeen year old in this film, but making him a legal-age adult just doesn´t work. Brendan Fraser has just turned forty years old. Ford is just twelve years younger than Fraser and they look closer in age than what they truly are and I absolutely cannot buy into them being anything more than rivals or drinking buddies. The whole father/son plot ruins this film. It´s awful.

There are other missteps as well with "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." The action is more over the top than previous films, but this has never been a series where you should worry about reality. They are meant to be huge action blockbusters and are more about bang than they are drama. Regardless, the Yetis are bad. Why did they involve them into this film? They seem misplaced and are about as annoying as the monkeys from the recent "Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls." Instead of being in awe at the action and effects, I could only grin and bear the presence of the white furballs. The romantic subplots of the film and the argument of mortal and immortals falling in love was worthy of teeth grinding and not any sentimental emotional response. There are other things I disliked about the film, but these are the big ones.

The story itself has a very good premise with the terra cotta army. It is now 1946 and Rick (Fraser) and Evelyn (Bello) have become bored with the retired life. They are asked to transport a valuable gem to China and quickly accept to break away from the mundane tasks of everyday life. The journey has them run into their son Alex (Ford) at a bar owned by Jonathan (Hannah) and it is soon learned that Alex is now a great adventurer in his own regards and has uncovered the location of the burial grounds of the former Dragon Emperor of China, Han (Li) and his terra cotta army. The emperor is resurrected and the O´Connells have a new mummy to combat. They soon become partners with the daughter of the immortal witch Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh), Lin (Isabella Leong) and must travel to the Himalayas. And with that I´ll end my short discussion of the plot.

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" has some serious flaws and does tarnish what could have been a rival franchise to the legendary "Indiana Jones" series. It brings back the over-the-top fun of the old serials and the monster movies of the thirties, but "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" has become too ambitious in its plans to remain true to the simplicity that made the original great and the first sequel a serviceable follow-up. There is plenty of action and the visual effects are on par with anything else out there. The film does recycle some of the elements from the previous films and for example, the car chase should remind others of the double-decker bus chase from "The Mummy Returns." Trying to add another main character in the form of Alex O´Connell as a grown up young man makes the O´Connell household a little too full. It was one thing having a cute young boy in on the action, but a confident and cocky young man doesn´t work.

I still had a lot of fun watching "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" and the comedic chemistry between Rick O´Connell and Jonathan Carnahan made up for many of the shortcomings. The two have their roles down perfectly and the brother-in-law relationship provides plenty of solid humor. Watching Fraser put on the buttoned down shirt and gun holsters for a third time brings back a character that I enjoy greatly and he is an actor that is more than capable of action films and while he made his name for hokey comedies and children´s films, Fraser is a talented action hero that is horribly underutilized by Hollywood and is not used properly in this film, which should be a showcase for the best role he has ever had. There is a lot of fun to be had and the action and effects are good enough to provide a reason to throw some popcorn into the microwave oven and warm up some extra butter.

Video:

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" brings the visual effects that have become a trademark for the franchise to Blu-ray with a striking 2.40:1 transfer that is detailed and colorful. In all honesty, I was hoping for just a touch more detail, but this is still a better than average effort that truly shines through most of the film. The fireworks-laden car chase and climactic battle between the undead army and terra cotta army looks amazing; as does other moments in the film. The digital imagery comes across superbly. Coloring is also very strong and the addition of the Himalayan environment, Shanghai and other locations provide more than a palette of dusty browns that is a staple of the series. The film has its share of darker moments and black levels are deep and accurate and no detail is lost during even the darkest moments. The transfer is clean and no flaws are apparent from either the digital transfer or the print used to cull the Blu-ray release. While it is not the most detailed release, "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" looks stunning.