Die Mumie – Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers (2008)

Die Mumie – Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers: Directed by Rob Cohen. With Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah. 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.

“I almost didnu0026#39;t see this in the theater due to all the bad reviews. What changed my mind was Roger Ebert giving it a rare positive review. Since I agree with Ebert more than most critics, I decided to go see it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI have to say that none of the reviews or comments Iu0026#39;ve read tell the whole picture, IMHO. Neither Ebertu0026#39;s praise nor other criticsu0026#39; pans are entirely appropriate. Letsu0026#39; start with the basics… u0026quot;The Mummyu0026quot; was a modern retelling of a 30u0026#39;s u0026quot;Bu0026quot; monster movie with up to date FX. It wasnu0026#39;t great drama, but it was a rousing thrill ride that capably did its job of entertaining you if you werenu0026#39;t too picky about plot, etc. The two sequels have continued this tradition. Iu0026#39;d rate this as inferior to the original but slightly superior to u0026quot;The Mummy Returnsu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMuch has been made about the casting of Maria Bello in the role originated by Rachel Weisz. While Iu0026#39;m not a Rachel Weisz fanboy, she is a very capable actress and I just donu0026#39;t believe Ms. Bello was up to the role. There is simply no chemistry between Bello and Brendan Fraser. There are basically only two legitimate reasons to make a sequel: 1) either there are loose ends to tie up, or 2) people really like the characters and want to see more of them. Each film in the Mummy franchise ties up its own loose ends, so the producers are risking commercial suicide to change the characters in any significant way. If they couldnu0026#39;t get Rachel Weisz, they should have been much more careful in recasting the role. Thereu0026#39;s very little physical resemblance between the two actresses, and Ms. Bello simply doesnu0026#39;t seem to have the acting chops to carry it off. That unfortunate casting choice casts a pall over the whole enterprise – but not enough to sink it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome have criticized the film because they donu0026#39;t believe that Brendan Fraser looks old enough to have a son Luke Fordu0026#39;s age. Thatu0026#39;s arguable (all of the holdover cast is starting to show their age – especially John Hannah) but, again, itu0026#39;s not a deal-breaker.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOTOH, the secondary roles are excellent. Michelle Yeoh and Isabella Leong are excellent while Jet Li gives another great performance as the evil emperor. Luke Ford is somewhat bland, though, and doesnu0026#39;t appear to be a good candidate to carry the franchise into the future.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe CGI FX are generally excellent but nothing we havenu0026#39;t seen in the first two films. The exception to this are the yetis! With only a few minutes of screen time, they pretty much steal every scene theyu0026#39;re in. Where the FX do seem lacking is in imagination, scale, and scope when compared to the previous two films. Perhaps thatu0026#39;s because more of the action in the previous films took place in dark, claustrophobic settings, while here many of them are in brightly lit sunlight. The battle scenes in particular suffer in the inevitable comparison to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWas this film made principally to milk the franchise? Almost certainly, but then so was u0026quot;The Mummy Returnsu0026quot;. But that doesnu0026#39;t mean it fails on its own terms. It is entertaining and supplies much of the same appeal as its predecessors. If you can watch it on those terms and if Maria Bellou0026#39;s casting isnu0026#39;t too disappointing to you, then go see it – you may have a good time. I did.”