Episode 19: How Does ‘The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ Fair Ten Years On?

Ii-wey! It was ten years ago last week (August 1, 2008) that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was released. After having created and helmed The Mummy (1999, budget $80 million/receipts $415.9 million) and The Mummy Returns (2001, budget $98 million/receipts $433), Stephen Sommers opted to produce the third installment,The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Instead, the film was directed by Rob Cohen (Dragonheart; The Fast and The Furious; XXX) who was no stranger to the action/adventure genre. The film had a larger budget of $145 million yet returned similar receipts to the first two films with just over $400 million. 

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opens in the distant past of ancient China where a woman describes (voiceover) a warlord’s climb to Dragon Emperor (Jet Li). The emperor sets in motion the building of the Great Wall and realized that he has so much to do that he sought to defeat death itself. The emperor seeks out a sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) who reportedly knows the secret for immortality and indeed, she casts a spell on the Emperor, knowing full well that the Emperor would double-cross her and kill her lover. The spell transforms the Emperor and his army into terracotta. Fast forward to 1946. In England, American adventurer Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) tries to settle into English life, while his English wife Evelyn (Mario Bello) is writing popular fiction and conducting readings. Although they promised each other to settle down and give up adventuring, each secretly misses the excitement, so they anxiously agree to return the Eye of Shangri-La to China. Meanwhile, their son Alex (Luke Ford) has left university studies behind, unbeknownst to his parents, and has been leading a dig for the Emperor’s tomb. All the main players converge on the Shanghai club Imhoteps, owned by Evelyn’s brother Jonathan (John Hannah). The Eye is used to revive the Emperor and guides him to the Shangri-La’s pool that gives people immortality. A grand chase ensues to stop the Emperor from opening the gates of his tyranny. 

Because I had seen the film originally in 2008 but not since, I revisited it to see if it held up to the test of time. The third installment delivered some interesting narrative elements that was countered with some weaknesses that will be discussed shortly. While the first two films were set in Egypt and featured Egyptian mummies, this one travelled east to spotlight a terracotta mummy. It was a change of pace to spotlight not only a different mummy but to have a less familiar cultural history represented to audiences. The shapeshifting aspect to the Emperor’s abilities, as well as his command over the elements, added a unique powerful dynamic to counter the ensemble team of protagonists. The film delivered action/adventure and was entertaining. The humor was lighthearted and sometimes over-the-top, especially if the humor centered on Jonathan and/or Rick. The return of Brendan Fraser and John Hannah provided continuity from the first two films, and there were several nods to the earlier films through dialogue and particularly, the narrative structure (more on this in a moment). 

The movie had some issues. First, the CGI effects did not age well. For example, when the Emperor was morphing into terracotta, at one stage, his body becomes a vessel of flames and it does not look fluid as flames should. The terracotta army, horses, and cursed men beneath the Great Wall may have been more exciting if it had been the first time seeing such effects, but these elements were better done in the first two films. Bello replaced Rachel Weisz, who portrayed Evelyn in the original film and its sequel, and while Bello does deliver a different Evelyn rather than try to conform to Weisz’s version, there was a sweet charm that just really worked with Weisz. Additionally, I thought Weisz and Fraser also had cohesive onscreen chemistry that would have helped root the idea of Rick and Evelyn passing the adventurer’s whip to their son Alex for future films. Thankfully, Fraser signed on for this film, otherwise this movie would have fell flat on its face. 

I think The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor had a few critical issues. First, the narrative beats were almost verbatim to the original film, which resulted in a structure that was familiar and well-worn. From the opening scene that finishes on the weathered Emperor’s statue to the chase sequence in the streets of Shanghai to the climatic fight between armies, nothing is truly all that new or original. The second is the struggle between characters to lead the “show”. While the sorceress and her daughter, Lin (Isabella Leong), have a healthy mother/daughter relationship, the dynamic between Evelyn, Rick and Alex is more complex. Rick still wants to lead with his seasoned wisdom while his son wants to lead through his youthful vigor and advanced technology (I’m thinking of the exchange as they compare weapons). This “pass the torch” narrative has been done before and while the challenge between father/son has to come at some point, it bogs down the enjoyment of the film. Add to this point is the audience’s expectation of an entertaining popcorn flick that the first two films delivered in spades. As an aside, Yeoh and Li are not utilized to their fullest. They are just not in the film long enough and since it is set in China and Shanghai, let’s have more martial arts spotlighted! 

This film received positive critical reception from some of the larger named critics at the time. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was the top grossing film day one when it opened domestically, but more importantly, it was a bigger success internationally, a phenomenon that has gotten a lot of attention in the past couple of years (think to the 2016 World of Warcraft and Tom Cruise’s The Mummy from last year). While this film was entertaining and had a unique mummy concept that is not often decently conveyed in movies, it was difficult to not make comparison with the first two films, both good and bad. Perhaps this film represented the gangly and awkward transition from child to adult, and regrettably, the sequel to this film that was on the table was eventually withdrawn and substituted with the mummy monster reboot from last year that was also meant to kick-off Universal’s Dark Universe. It feels like a missed opportunity with this third film and unfortunately, the future of the Universal mummy is uncertain. 

Senebti! 

Banner photo from Google Images