| Audience: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence |
| Profanity: | Some strong language (bastard, son of a bitch) |
| Nudity/Sex: | Mild sexual references, warmly affectionate married couple |
| Alcohol/Drugs: | Drinking, including drinking to deal with stress, scenes in bar |
| Violence/Scariness: | Non-stop action-style violence, some graphic images (faces melting, characters on fire), disturbing themes (mummies coming back from the dead) |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters, strong, brave, capable minorities and women |
| Movie Release Date: | August 1, 2008 |
Salt the popcorn and settle your gigantic soda in the cup-holder. Brendan Fraser is back and just as important, so are the mummies. Strictly speaking, these guys are not mummies, but they're close enough.
It's only been nine years since the first film, in which handsome, wisecracking, intrepid adventurer Rick (Fraser) met the brilliant, gorgeous, and equally intrepid librarian and Egyptologist Evie (Rachel Weisz). They found themselves battling mummies and falling in love. But this is movie world, so in the third installment Rick and Evie have a college-age son named Alex (the bland Luke Ford). Oh, and Weisz is not around any more, as we are informed with a brisk wink at the fans before the action gets underway. We first see Evie from behind, reading aloud from one of her books, and it is Weisz's voice. But then she answers a question with "Honestly I can say she's a completely different person," and the camera swings around to show us that Evie is now played by Maria Bello.
And after that, it is just about all action, all the time. As is appropriate for movies in this category, there is just enough plot to give us an opportunity to have various kinds of conflict in various kinds of settings and otherwise stay out of the way of all of the chases, explosions, and battles. It's sort of the same idea as Hellboy 2 -- a sleeping army will awake and take over the world for evil if blah blah. This time, Rick and Evie end up in China mostly so that mummy honors can go to Jet Li as the evil emperor who was cursed by a witch who has the secret of eternal life.
Like the old movie serials that inspired it, the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. But it takes the action scenes seriously and there are some great ones, especially a chase in a truck filled with fireworks. You can guess where that one is going. Yes, it is a little over the top by the time the Yeti show up. And Bello, as terrific an actress as she is, doesn't match Weisz's chemistry with Fraser and does not have his gift for finding the right mix of sincerity and spoof. The father-son-conflict and the romance are weak and predictable. But Fraser is spot on, Michelle Yeoh adds elegance and dignity as the witch, and Li is agreeably fast and fierce as the Emperor. When the silliness gets out of hand, just grab another handful of popcorn and before it's gone the next fight or chase or near-plane-crash or fall or avalanche or mummy-esque attack will get things going again and remind you of the pleasures of the summer movie.
Parents should know that the film has non-stop peril and violence including machine guns and handguns, knives, arrows, monsters, martial arts, swords, chases, an avalanche, and fire, characters coming back from the dead, and some grisly images. Characters use some strong language (b-words) and drink alcohol. A strength of the movie is the portrayal of brave and capable women and minorities and an inter-racial romance.
Family discussion: Look up information about the real-life archeological discovery in China of Emperor Qin's terracotta army, that included hundreds of life-sized Chinese warriors with weapons, horses, and chariots, all over 2000 years old.
If you like this, try: the previous mummy films
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The one star I plopped on this clunky bore-athon is due to the presence of the great Jet Li as the evil Dragon Emperor of the subtitle and the gorgeous Michelle Yeoh as Zi Yuan, a witch who's been on the Emperor¹s a** for over 2000 years.
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/22126971/review/22126827/the _mummy_tomb_of_the_dragon_emperor
martial-arts superstar Jet Li triumphs as the mostly wordless evil Emperor Han of ancient China, a glowing magma spirit locked in a terra cotta shell.
Jane Horwitz
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/31/AR2008 073100734.html
Still, Li makes a great villain, using his powers to create fire, ice and other elements.
Edward Douglas
Coming Soon
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/weekendwarriornews.php?id=47377
Toward the end of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh launch into a vigorous sword fight — and what a grand pleasure it is to watch these two world-class stars in action again...Their duel atop the Great Wall of China is a reunion of titans, an Old Timers' Day for two actor-athletes still in their sinuous prime. Forgive the effusions of an alter-kocker fanboy, but the flinty glamour of Li and Yeoh — buttressed by the stolid, sneering presence of top Hong Kong villain Anthony Wong Chau-sang (who in 1993 appeared in 15 films!) — is the best reason to catch this third in the series of Indiana Jones knockoffs.
Richard Corliss
TIME
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1828343,00.html
A memorably badass Jet Li.
Nathan Rabin
AV Club
http://www.avclub.com/content/cinema/the_mummy_tomb_of_the_dragon
After having read your review, which was insightful, I decided to see the movie. I found I enjoyed it for what it was, both entertaining and fun. However, I did skip the popcorn. I agree that the group wasn't really fighting "mummies," but when it is just for fun I guess it is a moog point. I also found it amusing that the general who had been drawn and quartered returned later missing only one limb. I was also pleased that you mentioned that women and minorities were presented in a more positive, equal manner. Maybe the writers, directors, producers, and the MPAA Ratings Board will begin to bring more equality, of every aspect, to future films.
Thanks, Tim! At first I didn't realize that general was the same guy for just that reason! And I agree that more equality will produce better movies.
Sounded OK for my mummy-and-antiquity-loving 4th grader (9 & 1/2), but he had to leave after the melting face, the emperor pouring out & vomiting sand from the witch's curse, the drawing and quartering, the decapitation of those who refused to be slaves, the beheading of those in stockades, the burying alive in the Great Wall... The review was so good, but the violence was way more intense than it sounded here. I didn't go (these movies don't interest me) & had to go get the poor boy half an hour into it. Dad and sis stayed though. He said "This should be rated R instead of PG-13!" This is the first time I goofed -from now on we'll read them together.
Oh, MomHon, I am so sorry! It is just those kinds of unhappy surprises I try to prevent. I am sorry to say that what used to get an R now gets a PG-13. What gets an R never existed in mainstream Hollywood releases. Your 4th grader might enjoy some of the young Indiana Jones series. Thanks for the comment and please keep me posted on what you think about the movies you see.
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