THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR
January 15th 2009 22:11
Category: Videos
Director: Rob Cohen
Written by: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Producers: Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel & James Jacks
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Luke Ford, John Hannah, Maria Bello, Chau Sang, Anthony Wong, Isabella Leong, Michelle Yeoh, Russel Wong, David Calder & Liam Cunningham.
Produced by: Universal Pictures in assoc with Shanghai Film Group Corporation, Beijing Happy Pictures & Cultural Communications Co Ltd.
Released by: Universal Pictures
Running Time: 107 Minutes Rating: M
What do you think you would get if you took the elements of wuxia genre and the horrific undying monster that is the namesake of the Mummy franchise? How about you toss in the exotic location of China two years after the Second World War then just for an afterthought throw in the elements of the ancient Chinese First Emperor, Ch’in Shih-huang-ti, and his vast terracotta army of warriors, charioteers, knights and crossbowmen for good measure. A liberal dose of soy sauce, some fried rice and a few chilli peppers for a bit of spice and stir for a few moments before letting to settle for a while before finally serving up to your adoring audience. Essentially this mix of ingredients, sans soy sauce, rice et al, is what is used in bringing forth The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor onto the silver screen for all and sundry.
Now I didn’t get the chance to see this particular incarnation of the Mummy franchise in the local cinema, in fact it was only here in my home town for a rather brief spell, and I had heard some frightening tales concerning the showing of it, namely the film dropping out at the last few minutes. That would be enough to make a grown man cry if after watching the movie for the whole of its length it all literally falls to pieces in the final five minutes or so and you never get to see the end. Riots have been started over less, although I have to say that in regards to this particular effort I think most would have a fair idea of what was going to occur and the missing of that final few moments wouldn’t seriously scar them.
So as you have no doubt already surmised I didn’t view the Mummy III at the flicks but instead picked it up off the shelf from the local video store, carted it home and then stuck it in the machine to watch at my leisure after a spot of lunch. Now I have seen the previous two mummy films and have to admit I did enjoy them, they were an attempt to create another style of Indiana Jones action flick instead of rather than opting to have the focus on a particular sacred object, a legendary cup or an exotic location the Mummy films opted to go with a horror film trope that has served Hollywood since the 1930s, the mummy, an undead creature from beyond the veil. Back then as with now the said mummy was always an Egyptian figure of major significance, either a noble or a priest.
Does this mean that The Mummy III tries to draw a connection between the lands of Egypt and ancient China, is the Dragon Emperor some long lost pharaoh who was exiled and ended up in the mystic east? Fortunately there isn’t such a historical bending required for the story, instead what you get is an ancient Chinese emperor, the implication is that it is that the character is based on the historical First Emperor, who like many such rulers is interested in conquering the entirety of China and unifying it under his dragon banner. It’s de rigueur for such figures to go about such enterprises; I suspect that if they didn’t do these things they’d be kicked out of the emperor society. But unlike other such figures this particular autocrat, played by Jet Li, is not simply satisfied with ultimate dominion within the mortal sphere. No once all his enemies are either subjugated, dead or both the Dragon Emperor seeks instead to conquer the greatest of all enemies to someone such as him…Death.
Immortality becomes the emperor’s next objective and in a way he achieves it, at the cost of his humanity and the transformation of his army into terracotta soldiers. No doubt he spent the next succeeding several millennia going over this one thing: “Must make sure to know the language of the person casting a spell on me so this doesn’t happen again” as the ritual of immortality that he was meant to be placed upon him was in a language he didn’t know but the witch involved did. As with the previous Mummy flicks this is all told to the audience in the movies opening scenes, we are given a run down of the antagonists background and told that if he should ever be awoken by those who revere him it will be a very bad thing, definitely worse than another Aliens Versus Predator effort but not quite as bad as say Malcolm Turnbull becoming the first president of an Australian Republic.
For good measure the mystic locale of Shangri-la is thrown in, it is the source of the Pool of Eternal Life whose occult waters are the one thing that can give the Dragon Emperor his true immortality and make him a force to be reckoned with…”This emperor is now the ultimate power in the universe, I suggest we use him.” Unfortunately for the script writers they did become far too proud of this technological terror not realising that its destructive capabilities were a bit over the top for their story, so they returned to the most powerful of all aspects of the universe, plot contrivance. A certain mystic dagger when thrust into the emperor’s heart will see his reign not so much end with a bang but a technicolour extreme vomiting…”to eliminate the battle station you must fly down this single trench and fire a torpedo into a very small exhaust tube, its ray shielded so you can’t use lasers.”
Look I didn’t mind watching this film, it passed an afternoon, and when you’re someone who does reviews of movies and other similar stuff it’s a good way to try and make a living. Unfortunately The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor just cannot cut it, in fact I reckon it would probably been far better if they had made a full on fantasy style flick set in Ancient China featuring a tyrannical emperor seeking the secret of immortality and using as protagonists a band of disparate rebels seeking to liberate their country. Just my random musings on the matter, when all is said and done Mummy III is a bit of a flop, something to watch when its in the bargain basement bin either at the local video store or in one of the various huge supermarket chains or department stores.
Written by: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Producers: Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel & James Jacks
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Luke Ford, John Hannah, Maria Bello, Chau Sang, Anthony Wong, Isabella Leong, Michelle Yeoh, Russel Wong, David Calder & Liam Cunningham.
Produced by: Universal Pictures in assoc with Shanghai Film Group Corporation, Beijing Happy Pictures & Cultural Communications Co Ltd.
Released by: Universal Pictures
Running Time: 107 Minutes Rating: M
What do you think you would get if you took the elements of wuxia genre and the horrific undying monster that is the namesake of the Mummy franchise? How about you toss in the exotic location of China two years after the Second World War then just for an afterthought throw in the elements of the ancient Chinese First Emperor, Ch’in Shih-huang-ti, and his vast terracotta army of warriors, charioteers, knights and crossbowmen for good measure. A liberal dose of soy sauce, some fried rice and a few chilli peppers for a bit of spice and stir for a few moments before letting to settle for a while before finally serving up to your adoring audience. Essentially this mix of ingredients, sans soy sauce, rice et al, is what is used in bringing forth The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor onto the silver screen for all and sundry.
Does this mean that The Mummy III tries to draw a connection between the lands of Egypt and ancient China, is the Dragon Emperor some long lost pharaoh who was exiled and ended up in the mystic east? Fortunately there isn’t such a historical bending required for the story, instead what you get is an ancient Chinese emperor, the implication is that it is that the character is based on the historical First Emperor, who like many such rulers is interested in conquering the entirety of China and unifying it under his dragon banner. It’s de rigueur for such figures to go about such enterprises; I suspect that if they didn’t do these things they’d be kicked out of the emperor society. But unlike other such figures this particular autocrat, played by Jet Li, is not simply satisfied with ultimate dominion within the mortal sphere. No once all his enemies are either subjugated, dead or both the Dragon Emperor seeks instead to conquer the greatest of all enemies to someone such as him…Death.
Immortality becomes the emperor’s next objective and in a way he achieves it, at the cost of his humanity and the transformation of his army into terracotta soldiers. No doubt he spent the next succeeding several millennia going over this one thing: “Must make sure to know the language of the person casting a spell on me so this doesn’t happen again” as the ritual of immortality that he was meant to be placed upon him was in a language he didn’t know but the witch involved did. As with the previous Mummy flicks this is all told to the audience in the movies opening scenes, we are given a run down of the antagonists background and told that if he should ever be awoken by those who revere him it will be a very bad thing, definitely worse than another Aliens Versus Predator effort but not quite as bad as say Malcolm Turnbull becoming the first president of an Australian Republic.
For good measure the mystic locale of Shangri-la is thrown in, it is the source of the Pool of Eternal Life whose occult waters are the one thing that can give the Dragon Emperor his true immortality and make him a force to be reckoned with…”This emperor is now the ultimate power in the universe, I suggest we use him.” Unfortunately for the script writers they did become far too proud of this technological terror not realising that its destructive capabilities were a bit over the top for their story, so they returned to the most powerful of all aspects of the universe, plot contrivance. A certain mystic dagger when thrust into the emperor’s heart will see his reign not so much end with a bang but a technicolour extreme vomiting…”to eliminate the battle station you must fly down this single trench and fire a torpedo into a very small exhaust tube, its ray shielded so you can’t use lasers.”
Look I didn’t mind watching this film, it passed an afternoon, and when you’re someone who does reviews of movies and other similar stuff it’s a good way to try and make a living. Unfortunately The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor just cannot cut it, in fact I reckon it would probably been far better if they had made a full on fantasy style flick set in Ancient China featuring a tyrannical emperor seeking the secret of immortality and using as protagonists a band of disparate rebels seeking to liberate their country. Just my random musings on the matter, when all is said and done Mummy III is a bit of a flop, something to watch when its in the bargain basement bin either at the local video store or in one of the various huge supermarket chains or department stores.
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