Highlights
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is not a bad film, but it falls short compared to its predecessors due to a change in director and the absence of Rachel Weisz.
- The film features thrilling action sequences, but it feels more predictable and lacks the humor and emotion of the first two movies.
- Despite its shortcomings, the Mummy franchise has always succeeded in combining horror, adventure, and action, making it worth considering a sequel with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz reuniting as their iconic characters.
Ever since The Mummy franchise began in 1999, the goal was to not only remake the original 1932 feature with Boris Karloff, but to combine horror with the action and adventure genres reminiscent of Indiana Jones. The trilogy proved to be mostly successful, with the first film becoming one of the most popular features of the late 90s.
The Mummy films also made stars out of leading actors Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. However, the third installment, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, was viewed as the weakest entry in the series and a flawed conclusion to the trilogy. What made the third film so negatively received, and could the franchise ever return?
What is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor About?
After married adventurers Rick O'Connell (Fraser) and Evelyn Carnahan defeated the Egyptian mummy Imhotep in the first two films, they come out of retirement to help their son Alex (an adventurer himself) take on a new mummy named Han the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li). The start of the film displays Han's backstory as a ruthless leader who founded the Qin dynasty and constructed the Great Wall of China. On top of that, Han uses a sorceress named Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh) in an attempt to become immortal, but when the emperor kills her lover General Ming (Han's right-hand man), Zi curses Han and his entire army. Centuries later in the 1940s when Alex discovers Han's tomb, he and his parents are held at gunpoint by a rogue Chinese general named Yang and his partner Colonel Choi (who awaken the Dragon Emperor by using mystical water from the Eye of Shangri-La).
The O'Connells go after the mummified Dragon Emperor in order to prevent him from reviving his army to control all of China and dominate the world. The adventurous family enlists help from Evelyn's always-comical brother Jonathan (John Hannah reprising his role from the previous films), an experienced fighter pilot named Mad Dog Maguire (Rick's old companion), and the eternal sorceress Zi along with her daughter Lin (who falls in love with Alex). A series of gun, sword, and knife fights ensue, as well as chases on planes, cars, and horseback. There's also the use of exquisite locations, from the vibrant city of Shanghai to the snowy Himalayan mountains, as the O'Connells and their allies scour through China to track down Han and his accomplices.
How does The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor end?
At the conclusion of the film, Han is able to restore his human form while also obtaining supernatural powers (including the ability to change into a three-headed dragon). The Dragon Emperor also successfully revives his army, kidnaps Lin, and steals the cursed dagger that can kill him. Zi sacrifices her and Lin's immortality so that she can revive Ming and his unit to battle Han and his forces. While the O'Connells wage war on Han's army, Zi engages in a sword fight with Han, who prevails and fatally wounds Zi.
As Zi dies lying alongside Lin, Rick and Alex take the dagger to use on Han. Evelyn and Lin manage to defeat Yang and Choi, while Rick engages in hand-to-hand combat against Han. The Dragon Emperor initially dominates the fight, but Rick fights back and (with Alex's help) uses the cursed dagger to stab and kill Han, sending him and his entire army back to the afterlife.
Why was The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor unsuccessful?
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor isn't a bad film by a long stretch and contains some exquisite and high-octane action sequences with plenty of gunplay, sword fighting, and martial arts fighting scenes. Brendan Fraser and John Hannah also maintain their distinguished roles as Rick O'Connell and Jonathan Carnahan, respectively. The sequel also transitions from Egypt in the first two films to China in the third movie, showing that if the series were to continue, storylines can be set up in various locations.
While late film critic Roger Ebert said in his review that Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is the best entry in the series, many disagreed, calling it the worst. A big reason may be that Stephen Sommers (who helmed the first two films) didn't return to direct. Sommers made The Mummy and The Mummy Returns funny, scary, romantic, and action-packed, along with the concepts of archeology and exploration within hidden treasures and mysteries of the dead. Rob Cohen (best known for directing The Fast and the Furious and XXX) brings similar elements to the third movie, but the issue is it feels more action-oriented and predictable (despite a new mummy and change of scenery).
Another major issue is that Rachel Weisz did not return to portray Evelyn in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, with Maria Bello replacing Weisz in the role. While Bello adequately plays Evelyn as a tough, classy adventurer, Weisz displayed slightly more humor and emotion in the first two features (and had plenty of chemistry with Fraser that's missing in the third film). Tomb of the Dragon Emperor performed well internationally at the box office but faced tough competition domestically due to the massive success of The Dark Knight (the highest-grossing film of 2008). The third feature also ended up being the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy, with spectators perhaps believing that the first two movies had stronger and more exciting plots, and the series has run its course.
However, with Brendan Fraser having a grand comeback this year ('the Brenaissance'), especially after his best actor Oscar win for his emotionally dramatic turn in The Whale, the actor is open to returning to The Mummy franchise if there's a possibility for a sequel with a new story. Despite the third film lacking the excitement of the earlier movies, this series has always delivered in terms of combining scary, menacing creatures with action and adventure. Rick O'Connell is one of Fraser's most memorable characters and is worthy of reuniting with Weisz as Evelyn in a new Mummy feature.