Thank for for checking out our The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Review!
The General Idea
Plot Synopsis Via IMDB: In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick and Alex O’Connell unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin — a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago.
The Good
The costuming in the film was outstanding. From the armor worn by the army of the Dragon Emporer to the tailored period garb of the late 1930’s – everything looked sharp. I appreciate the detail that goes into costuming and feel that it not only sets a better mood for the film; it usually assists those involved with “getting into character”.
I have disliked the special effects in the previous Mummy films, but this film marked a noted improvement. The detailed “cracking” that took place on the terracotta army was outstanding. Whenever they would move, a crack would appear revealing a molten core (for but a second); and then heal over again. I was also impressed by the 3-Headed dragon in the film. I am a sucker for dragons, and this one looked fantastic.
The Bad
The dialogue in the film was very bad. It took me out of the story on multiple occasions. I know action films aren’t necessarily held to the same standard as dramas when it comes to dialogue, but it was so soaked with cheese that my eye-sockets were blistered from the amount of times that I rolled my eyes. Even the one-liners excelled at how unbelievably lame they were. It made me appreciate the work of Schwarzenegger with a new found respect – and that is the truth.
The story plods along in an unbelievable fashion. Interactions between the characters made less sense than undead legions rising from the grave. I understand that with a film like this you need to suspend disbelief. But within the world the players still need to adhere to a set of boundaries so the illusion of danger and tension are created in the audience member. This film disregarded all logic and sense within it’s own universe and became cartoonish in its execution.
At 120 minutes, not only was this film bad, but it was bad for longer than it needed to be. I will not say that this film would have benefitted from a cut, it just would’ve made everyone a bit happier.
Overall
This is a lackluster action adventure film that has an awkward story, delivered in a peculiar manner. I wouldn’t recommend this film and out of 10 – I give it a 3.
