In honour of The Mummy coming back to the cinemas for its 25th anniversary, I think it's time I reviewed the third instalment of the franchise as I have already taken a look at the original movie yonks ago and this has been sitting in my drafts pretty much since then.
It has taken me multiple attempts to be able to watch this film all the way through. Not because it is bad or anything, although it isn't great, but because so many of life's factors just got in the way and seemingly just didn't want me to ever view the third installment. The first time I had a powercut, second time I had to leave the house in an emergency, third time another powercut, 4th time it clashed with someone else's show so the channel was changed, 5th time the channel had technical difficulties, I could go on, I wish I could make this up! Even when I physically bought the movie something always got in the way of ever actually completing it, we would get to the scene with the yetis and boom, problem.
It was probably my 9th attempt at trying to watch the film that I finally saw it all the way through. Despite my love for these films I can't say I missed much. But let us first of all address the Evie shaped Elephant in the room. At no point could Rachel Weisz ever be replaced, Maria Bello did a good job, but her style and personality was not Evie O'connell and that showed.
In terms of the narrative, we basically follow a grown up Alex as he is trying to follow in his parents footsteps but in China not Egypt. Instead of mummy hunting he is with his archaeology professor trying to make a discovery. They get attacked by a mystery woman as they discover the Emperor's tomb and thus begins the story of the Emperor coming back to life along with his Terracotta army oh and he's evil.
The premise for this one was really good, it's just a shame the dynamic then lacked due to conflicting personalities. Alex grew up really fast and became more obnoxious than Rick, but at least Rick was fairly humble along with it, he was just a brash American, but somehow considering he was reared in the UK Alex still has an American accent, and also despite being quite fiery his mother has manners and a gentleness about her which was certainly passed onto the young mischievous Alex, so why is he a douche grown up? Perhaps it was the new Evelyn's impact, she seemed too fake, too high and mighty, that just wasn't an aspect of the woman trying her hardest to be a Bembridge scholar.
The idea of the Terracotta Army coming back to life was genius and had this film been a success I'm sure other franchises would have been all over this, reinstating the series in cult classic history. Considering this army is a huge archaeological discovery and cemented its place in history, I thought I would have seen more films with them featured, but to my recollection I can only think of them being displayed in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. But to see another spin on said army, and bringing the already supernatural element to life should have made this film a hit, it was just the character interaction that let it down. I liked the plot.
It is in my experience however, that just because I liked the film doesn't mean anyone else did. Just look at the reception of the Percy Jackson movies. Heads up, even the author hated the movies. So maybe my opinion on things shouldn't be held as highly as it is.
The dynamic between Jonathan and Alex also changed. In the previous film they were as thick as thieves, in this one old John just seems like a funny old drunk and Alex is so full of himself he doesn't give a damn about the family where he was their everything. I don't know, it should have been far more enjoyable than it was. It was passable but barely, and it is such a shame.
CGI in this one is better than in Returns, but not by much and this was several years later, we've had successful completely CGI films come out and yet this one still couldn't do it very convincingly. Maybe it was a budget issue, but then that would count toward the whole film. They shouldn't have done it as it seems like they lost interest halfway through. First half was really good and then we did get silly. Pointless action gets thrown about to distract from bad plot, it's not great is it, not when it tarnishes the good Mummy brand.
On that note then, I think we all agree Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was a disappointment, whether we liked it or not. Therefore I think it best we rate this film a 4/10. It had potential but it was poor execution which did it in, that and they messed with a winning cast formula. They shouldn't have done it if everyone wasn't on board.
As always my dear supernatural creatures stay safe, don't hunt for supernatural entities unless you have experience, and have fun!
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