4 reviews

---

Helen Ward August 13, 2008

An ancient Hollywood legend tells of script-writers who made up the story of a film as it was being shot. The result was one of the greatest films of all time: Casablanca.

The makers of this film give every impression of having tried to repeat this legendary formula. The result is "The Terracotta Warriors Meet the Yetis".

A fortnight in the Pool of Eternal Life on the Costa del Shangri La couldn't save this turkey.

---

Glenn Watson August 12, 2008

“Why am I laughing?” quips gung-ho hero Brendan Fraser in The Mummy 3. It’s not a question you’ll be asking yourself. Rip-roaringly disappointing, even kids will find themselves more interested in the archaeology than the antics.

Beware sequels. And beware extra instalments. You’ll recognise them: they’ll have long titles – Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - a sure sign of creativity camouflage. Tomb of the Dragon Emperor? It’s a cover-up title masking a sarcophagus-sized hole in the plot, script and action.

Rick O’Connell (Fraser) and his wife have retired from adventuring and live quietly in Oxfordshire. But when their chip-off-the-block son unearths the titular Dragon Emperor, the parents are soon spoiling his party. Their mission to return a diamond to Shangri-La mysteriously coincides with a fiendish (or not) plot to return the Emperor to life.

A waste of Chinese superstars Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Wong (not to mention Fraser and Maria Bello), The Mummy 3 is a hamfisted film. A 12A, even twelve year olds will be shifting in their seats: it doesn’t take a film critic to spot a lazy plot, shoddily-shot action and a mawkish family-hugs formula.

Director Rob Cohen seems to be satisfied with chiming-in cynically with all things Chinese in Olympics year. But he brings nothing new. Lame wisecracks, Indiana Jones set-ups and spluttering special effects add up to not much.

You know a franchise has run out of steam when the makers lack the confidence of the original and resort to bringing the teens into it - as if the popcorn audience can’t watch without a kid on the screen. Die Hard 4 and Indiana Jones 4 both brought out the brats to highlight the huff-and-puff of the old. But even here The Mummy 3 falls flat, with a son too like his dad to breathe any fresh air into it.

Don’t be fooled by the blockbuster trailer. Even fans of formula movies deserve better than this. The Mummy 3 should stay buried.

---

Emma Irwin August 4, 2008

Brendan Fraser returns as Rick O’Connell our favourite Mummy slaying hero… or is he Indiana Jones? The film bears so many resemblances to the Indiana Jones franchise you have to wonder what they were trying to accomplish in making the film.

Rick and Evelyn’s (Maria Bello) son Alex (Luke Ford) is all grown up, (a highly questionable age gap between Fraser and Ford), and digging up China. Rick and Evelyn are trying to pretend they aren’t bored with their lives away from the action when they are given an opportunity to adventure once more. They journey to China to return the Eye of Shangri-la which just happens to be where Evelyn’s brother Jonathan (John Hannah) now lives. With the whole family back together they forced into waking the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li), who was entombed with 10,000 men by sorcerer Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) 2000ish years ago.

So the O’Connells along with Jonathan and Lin, a girl who has watched over the tomb for 2000 years (sound like an earlier plot at all?), begin a race to stop the Emperor and his men becoming immortal. To up the stakes a bit this Mummy can control all the elements as well as being undead!

Think Indiana Jones meets Pirates of the Caribbean and you have your film, complete with father and son on bike with sidecar and walking skeletons. There are a few amazing fights featuring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, some great CGI affects and a lot of fireworks. John Hannah again plays the comedy roll and carries off the one-liners beautifully. Fraser is as good as he ever was but has some terrible cheesy lines. Oh and did anyone notice Rachel Weizs didn’t return as Evelyn this time? There is one clever line where Bello gets to point this out.

If you are looking for something new and original don’t bother (but hey it is a sequel!). On the other hand if you enjoyed the previous films and like Indiana Jones then you’ll probably like this. It is an entertaining fantasy action film as long as you can put aside all similarities to other films and small plot indiscretions, General Ming ripped apart yet resurrected with just an arm missing? Maybe they could put Harrison Ford in the next one?!

Filmmaking is a collaborative process, with very few exceptions. The collaboration may be realised as a team of professionals working hard to attain competence, if not excellence, or it might be manifest as the generation of a homogenized product by committee. In the case of the third Mummy film, it’s a little of both.

The plot is basic stuff: The O’Connell family vs. another Mummy, this time in China. Shangri-La and the Terracotta Army in lieu of a grail or ark, and we’re away. It isn’t just business as usual however: Rachel Weisz is out, but not missed, Maria Bello is in but easy to shrug off; the Mummy is new, played by an underused Jet Li; pre-teen Alex is now some ten years older.

This film exists for little more than making money but this end is best achieved through the means of being appealing and entertaining. This is where director Rob Cohen, the cast and crew come in rather useful. They prove exemplary hacks – in the best sense of the word – turning in something derivative, relatively mild and comfy but also frequently rather polished. Some of the FX work – but by no means all – is genuinely awesome, and a good handful of scenes even manage to charm and disarm via writing, playing and pacing.

There’s a sequence towards the beginning that exemplifies how pleasantly functional this film is at best. Rick O’Connell is fly fishing – in Oxfordshire, no less, circa 1946. He tries to cast off and snags himself with the hook. Then he hooks a tree. Exasperated, he shoots at the fish with his pistol. An establishing shot of the O’Connells’ luxurious home is followed by Rick being greeted by a butler. Said Butler is astonished to see Rick return with fish at all – and notes a hook still caught in the flesh of Rick’s neck. Dinner time – and Rick and Evelyn discuss his afternoon’s fishing. The butler serves fish, exchanges a telling glance with Rick. Evelyn comments how happy she is that Rick has found a hobby that doesn’t involve firearms and… bites into a bullet.

Okay – so it isn’t world changing stuff, but it works and has narrative purpose far beyond these scenes. For this, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar deserve the majority of the plaudits. It’s this kind of journeyman hackery that elevates the film above the ambitions of any indulgent would-be auteur. The Mummy 3 is like a fairly well cooked burger from a half decent café – you may forget it in a snap but you’ll enjoy it much more than a peach, cheese and liver souffle. As well as trumping both of the previous instalments hands down, this Mummy is way more commendable than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, its obvious bedfellow this summer, as well as The Dark Knight, its immediate box office rival.

Brendon Connelly 5 Aug 2008