*** Official THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

There is no official review thread for this film yet, so I'm going to post my impressions here. I went to see it Friday night and after seeing it I have to say that I'm embarassed that I posted this in the box office thread.


I got some of it right. It really was big, loud, and stupid with over-the-top action. The problem is that I think it actually might be worse than THE MUMMY RETURNS. The film has tons of action, but to me it just has no heart. THE MUMMY was goofy and action filled but in a fun and humourous way. THE MUMMY 3 just does not recapture the spark that the first one had.

I don't normally like to criticize filmmakers directly. I don't make films myself so normally I don't feel qualified calling someone a lousy filmmaker, but in this case I have to make an exception. I really do think Rob Cohen is a lousy filmmaker. M3 had big action setpieces but they were shot so unimaginatively that a person just sat there and watched while remaining completely distant from them. I found that I just couldn't really get into the action. The action, oddly, just felt boring. When it wasn't boring, some of it was too stupid.

Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello had decent chemistry, but nowhere near as good as with Rachel Weisz. I also the impression that Fraser just didn't really have his heart in this film. A lot of his performance felt kind of flat and somewhat phoned in.

Jet Li was just totally wasted in this film. I don't want to give anything away but thanks to Rob Cohen's shooting style Li's biggest scene was ruined as far as I am concerned. Cohen shoots fights like Michael Bay does. The camera is in so close that all you felt like you were watching was arms and legs flying. You never get a sense of where the combatants are in relation to each other. I really hate that kind of tight in shooting when it comes to fights. I hate it with Michael Bay and I hate it with Cohen, except that I think Cohen does an even worse job of it than Michael Bay does.

I also think that Michelle Yeoh was wasted in this film as well. Not nearly to the same extent as Jet Li, but she really wasn't given much to work with.

All in all, I was totally disappointed with M3. I will be surprised if it doesn't fade after the first week. I'm giving this a C-.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Rob Cohen is going to make a decent 2nd unit director one day, but for now, he is absolutely atrocious shooting scenes with dialogue in them. And that's a bad thing. If he had some truly charismatic actors in the cast, he might have gotten a pass, but not with this cast, most of whom just don't have enough to do, or bring much to the table.

The recasting of Evelyn with Maria Bello just doesn't work at all, and there was zero chemistry between her and Brendan Fraser, who was pretty much just collecting a paycheck. Most of their scenes together played very unnatural and it just makes for a trying viewing experience.

The big set pieces look great, but aren't really used in interesting ways, and the actions scenes lack purpose or emotional investment by the viewer. Overall, an unengaging film that can't even muster much excitement in the action sequences.

I give it 1.5 stars, or a grade of D+.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This thread is now the Official Review Thread for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Please post all HTF member reviews in this thread.

Any other comments, links to other reviews, or discussion items will be deleted from this thread without warning!

If you need to discuss those type of issues then I have designated an Official Discussion Thread.



Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

I liked it more than Patrick and Edwin. I thought it was better than Mummy 2 and Maria Bello worked for me as Evelyn. As a popcorn matinee film it was fine, other than that, save your money. Some of the script leaves a lot to desire, but I had a good time at the theater. I'll give it a C+ for entertaining me for about 2 hours.





Crawdaddy

 

[Brett_M]

This is a terrible film. Lazy script, no heart, no real humor (cheap humor -- yes), phoned-in performance by Fraser, a wasted Jet Li, horrible cinematography, too much exposition, Alex O'Connell is a bore. I could go on. I nodded off periodically and I never sleep in movies. Rob Cohen is a hack. It totally sucks.