I’m one of those people who actually didn’t mind “The Mummy” movies. No, they weren’t anywhere near Indiana Jones quality, but for fun treasure and adventure movies I thought they held themselves alright. The second Mummy flick was a big step down (how terrible did that “The Rock” monster look at the end?) but still fun flicks worth catching at a matinee.
We’ve known for some time now that another Mummy film is heading our way, and apparently is now finished shooting. Director Rob Cohen has put out what he is calling the official synopsis of the film:
The blockbuster global “Mummy” franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O’Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O’Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.
Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, China’s ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O’Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents.
As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force…unless the O’Connells can stop him first. Now, in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” the trademark thrills and visually spectacular action of the “Mummy” series will be redefined for a new generation.
For me personally, for this movie to work it needs to still have Brendan Fraser as the lead character and NOT play second fiddle to his son. Rick is the Indiana Jones of this franchise, and I really hope they don’t just use this film as a vehicle for launching and new series featuring his son. That’s fine if it’s a by-product of the film… I just hope they don’t make it the total purpose of it.
So your thoughts… will this next Mummy movie be any good?
Rachel Weisz made an awesome career move by avoiding this stink bomb. She reportedly said after reading the script it ‘wasn’t up to par’ with the other 2 mummy movies. yes..that par wasnt high to begin with..but she was right.
This mummy installment isn’t worth the download.
does anybody know why Rachel Weisz is not in this one?
just from reading the plot the movie might be ok i liked the first one i though it was a good adventure move and i liked the 2ed on to i though the idea of the rock the a good way to kepp the movie going and now we will have to see about part 3 i like how they are going to asia.
Jet Li in another villain role? I hope he doesn’t get typecast. He’s popular here in the Philippines because of his beer commercial.
And he has his movie with Jackie Chan.
well, I LOVED The Mommy 1 & 2. I quickly see flaws in this 3rd movie right away. What Im most disappointed about is that Rachel Weisz wont be returning as Evie! (the woman is beyond beautiful!). Not to mention Stephen Sommers (director of 1 & 2) isnt directing. It looks like this will be a whole different movie. Its set in China, which means we wont be seeing any (Oded Fehrs character). At first i was exited when i heard about this film, but now im kind of let down. Im still gonna go see it anyways, i just wont get my hopes up.
Im a huge ‘Mummy’ fan, but I just can’t look forward to this without Rachel Weisz
I liked the first one just OK, but ABSOLUTELY LOVED the second one. This third one I will have to wait and see how it turns out but the fact that Rachel isn’t coming back does suck.
Interesting fact about the god-awful CGI work on the scorpion king in the last shots of the Mummy 2. A friend of mine who worked on that film told me once that the reason it looked so bad was the funding was pulled out at the last minute on the film by the studio and they had to use an unrendered version for the final film cut. So, the final scorpion monster onscreen was more or less just a place-holder for the final “cool-textured-fully-modeled” version that should have been. Strange but true!
On the question about whether or not this 3rd installment will kick-start the franchise back to life, I’m withholding judgement. I’m thinking if Brenndan Frasier was smart he’d try to really do his best in this one since he’s not getting any other work in Hollywood!
BOOOOOOOO……no rachel weiz…..no point of seeing…..god she is sexy….oh well not seeing this….
I just can’t stand anything that Rob Cohen has directed. I think he’s just a shooter with the inability to lift anything beyond lame (i mean, Dragonheart could have been so mighty).
Ah I love this franchise. It’s great summer fun. I can’t wait to see it on the big screen.
Mummy 2 was godawful. I saw that thing in a packed theater, and everyone burst into laughter when that CGI Scorpion King thing showed up at the end. What the hell was that? No one was clamoring for another one of these, and quite frankly, I’ll go out on a limb and wager that this one will gross less than the second one. I have no desire to see it.
While there were a number of things to like in the past two films- Oded Fehr, Patricia Valesquez vs. Racheal Wiesz, the villiany of Arnold Vasloo as Imhotep, some of the stunts and set pieces…they were outwieghed by winking at the audience, gaping plot holes, the big “name casting” of Rock Johnson without him being onscreen for more than ten minutes, and most noticably, especially the previous film, the most horrible CGI ever put before an audience, and the good CG was repeated gags (“instead of a face of sand, we will make a face out of water!”) and thus gave most a sour taste.
Oh yeah, little kid Rick in Mummy Returns was an annoying brat, saddled with technology on his arm that has 3-D holograms created by hand out of ancient civilizations.
My hopes are not real high for this new film, but just as long as the effects not only look better than the previous film, but that the effects add to or support the story, and have a reason for being there. In the past film specifically, this was a major problem.
The story seems good enough to work, now it will be in the execution. As long as Rick is at least equal to Alex in terms of focus I think it will be at the very least a watchable movie. However I am disappointed that Rachel Weisz is not returning as Evelyn. I think it will be good, though I’m still thinking it will end up being the weakest of the three Mummy movies thus far.