The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Rob Cohen, 2008) — The Reviews Thread

scott1598 · 07-31-08, 05:20 PM

even with 2 free tickets, not sure i will see this...

Movie:
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh)

Release Date:
8/01/2008

Rating:
PG-13

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mumm...ragon_emperor/
Fresh:11 Rotten:102 (10% as of 8/02/08)

Info:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0859163/

Trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/univer...ror/large.html

Poster Art:

Hokeyboy · 07-31-08, 05:32 PM

I do not pay to watch Rob Cohen movies. Sorry. But if I sneak in I'll somehow produce a report.

mcfly · 07-31-08, 05:40 PM

This looks like a huge pile of crap so I'm not surprised by its reviews.

Honestly I wonder if TDK will hold its own again or if this will surprise and do well..

JPRaup · 07-31-08, 05:53 PM

Pretty sure I will NEVER watch this movie.

RocShemp · 07-31-08, 07:46 PM

I saw it today and it was solid. It's not perfect but it has a nice pulp action feel and the change of setting was a wise choice. In fact, if they do another, I hope the fourth one goes to yet another locale. In fact, the ending of the film actually hints at that during the closing scene.

JumpCutz · 07-31-08, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPRaup

Pretty sure I will NEVER watch this movie.

+1

Looks like pure shit. I wouldn't trust Rob Cohen to direct traffic.

Zen Peckinpah · 08-01-08, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JumpCutz

+1

Looks like pure shit. I wouldn't trust Rob Cohen to direct traffic.

If that happened he'd have won an Academy Award.

fumanstan · 08-01-08, 12:51 AM

I'm not sure i'm going to catch this yet, but that sure is a lot of thread craps from people who haven't seen it yet in the reviews thread. Sheesh.

mcfly · 08-01-08, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zen Peckinpah

If that happened he'd have won an Academy Award.

DJariya · 08-01-08, 03:03 AM

I have the $7.50 movie cash from The Mummy DVD's that were recently released and will see this Friday. I'm a fan of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh and that's pretty much the reason why I will see this.

rexinnih · 08-01-08, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJariya

I have the $7.50 movie cash from The Mummy DVD's that were recently released and will see this Friday. I'm a fan of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh and that's pretty much the reason why I will see this.

That's my motivation. Should just about cover a weekend matinee.

Anubis2005X · 08-01-08, 09:15 AM

No Rachel Weiss, no sale!

Boba Fett · 08-01-08, 02:13 PM

I've heard from a few people Yeoh and Li's screen time isn't that great, and that the ads are misleading.

Zodiac_Speaking · 08-01-08, 02:47 PM

It's pretty mediocre but midly fun. It didn't piss me off like Mummy Returns did and this did have better CG. The actor playing Alex was awful; he had weird beats in his line delivery. Li was wasted, but Yeoh was non-existent in this film.

Oh and the Yeti giving a "touchdown!" saulte....WTF!?

Not as big of an ass stain many have thought but nothing worth remembering either.

Grade: **

True_Story1011 · 08-01-08, 05:37 PM

No chemistry between any of the actors, there was no motivation for this film or the actor's in it and was extremely surprised that B.Fraiser signed onto this turd wagon... but I guess a couple million dollars sent your way isnt half bad.

Oh... and what the fuck is up with Brendan Fraiser looking younger than his son?

I couldnt get into this movie at all! I would seriously offer this movie a D- or 1 star.

jeffkjoe · 08-01-08, 05:49 PM

Mummy 3 is something that you watch when you've got nothing to do and nothing else to watch.

Folks: Please save your money and don't watch this. Times are tough now, and you've got other ways to spend your hard-earned dollar!!!!

The Monkees · 08-01-08, 06:15 PM

I was very disappointed in this movie. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good, but I had faith. I love this series, but this one is clearly the worst. I don't see it making very much money. Glad I had movie cash and didn't pay to see it.

scott1598 · 08-01-08, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anubis2005X

No Rachel Weiss, no sale!

Maria Bello is leagues hotter than Weisz! i've loved her since "er".

Moleman1138 · 08-01-08, 08:29 PM

Dragon Emperor was an incredible addition to the Mummy franchise if not the best. Campy fun spun from the same yarn as the previous two.

It's obvious where Part 4 is going. They can go to Peru and everything but no nuked fridges or aliens.

Roybq · 08-01-08, 08:39 PM

I thought it was okay, but it did have a few WTF moments in it. Seriously, Yeti? I had free tickets for it so that helped. If I had paid for a full price ticket for it, I probably would've walked out and found a better movie to watch.

I would've rather had them have Rick's wife on some vacation somewhere rather than recast (it didn't work for me especially with the come and go accent) and Rick's son was seriously miscast because I'm pretty sure the couple was a little older than 12 when they had Alex.

I did enjoy the action though. It was dumb, but it was "fun" dumb. I also had a serious sense of "Deja Vu" from the movie "300" (like the 1000s of flying arrows and especially the beginning end credits which looked like it ripped off the beginning end credits from "300" credit by credit).

I'll recommend it...if you can see this for free. If not, it's worth at least a $1.00 rental.

DJariya · 08-01-08, 09:06 PM

I thought it was okay. I only ended up paying $1 to see it after the $7.50 discount.

One of the things that I really liked was the opening sequence with narration that explained the background of the Emperor. I'm a big fan of Chinese period films and I thought they did a pretty solid job recreating ancient China.

Jet Li was surprisingly mennacing as the villain. Even though his screen time was limited, I thought he did a good job when he was on camera. His character reminded me alot of who he played on "The Warlords." I surprised how little screen time Michelle Yeoh had. The opening sequence that featured her, Li and Russell Wong was really good and it sucked that she didn't return until 1 hour later in the movie.

As for the main characters. Brendan Fraser played Rick as well as the 1st two films. Goofy and sometimes charming. Although I thought he had pretty much no chemistry at all with Maria Bello. Bello is a solid B-movie actress, but was horribly miscasted as Evie. I agree that she should have been written out doing something else (maybe a book tour?) than recasted. The colored hair and phoney english accent just didn't work for me at all. Also, I just didn't find her and Fraser believable as a married couple. Rachel Weisz brought alot more charm and sexiness to the character. John Hannah was okay returning as Evie's goofy brother.

I didn't like Luke Ford as Rick and Evie's son. I know Rick and Evie are supposed to be in their 40's in this film, but couldn't they have casted someone who looked a little younger than Fraser? Ford is 27 and Fraser is 39.

Overall, it was silly and campy fun. For their return back to feature film writing, I thought Al Gough and Miles Millar did an okay job. The script was a little choppy and maybe some of the ancient China scenes could have been fleshed out more. If you liked the 1st two films, then I think this is a worthy viewing to conclude the series (seeing it as a matinee). I would give it between a B- and C+

Anyone notice in the final scene:

Spoiler:

RocShemp · 08-01-08, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJariya

Anyone notice in the final scene:

Spoiler:

No, I missed that. But I did notice

Spoiler:

mdc3000 · 08-02-08, 12:15 AM

Thought it was OK. Nothing special. I love Maria Bello but she's terribly miscast here and has ZERO chemistry with Frasier. The guy playing Alex is also pretty terrible and the two of them really bring the film down a few notches...however the horrendous pacing and Yeti certainly don't help.

The 'Retired Rick and Evie' stuff at the beginning is TERRIBLE - feels like a bad sitcom. Had the movie opened with the legend of the Dragon Emperor and then gone straight to the Shanghai sequence, reintroducing us to these characters at Jonathan's bar, I think it would have worked a lot better. (I even think skipping the excavation scene is fine, just tell us that Alex found him etc.) Just get us to the good stuff. The tone in the first half is all over the place and never settles into that 'Goofy but fun B movie' tone that worked so well in the first two.

Then of course, there is the Yeti sequence, which feels so out of touch with the entire series it's really jarring. They look cool, but this isn't a world filled with mythical creatures - sure it has Mummies, but that and other undead things are it....having Yeti's show up to help the heroes out of the blue is beyond stupid.

Jet Li is pretty effective and the F/X work for his character is pretty dang cool, love when he throws his face etc. and underneath the statue looks great - I can even go with him having the power to turn into a dragon...but then he morphs into... I don't even know what the fuck that was - a giant cyclops rhino or some shit - WTF? Also, the love story with the son, the immortality stuff with Yeoh and the final showdown all feel super rushed. I love the stuff with the undead armies squaring off, that all feels like vintage Mummy movies and is fun... but the real problem is that Rick and Evie take a backseat to new, less interesting characters and never quite feel like themselves.

I think this could have been better in someone else's hands for sure... not the abortion some are making it out to be, but not the crowd pleaser that the first two were...and the ending is just WEIRD. You don't end your movie on a joke that you then need an onscreen title to explain...WEAK.

3/5

FantasticVSDoom · 08-02-08, 12:32 AM

The Yeti were the best part of the movie... Sure they are out of place, but were pretty cool and brought out the only really good action sequence in the movie. Brendan Frasier is horrible. Everyone else wasnt too bad, but still this movie was just OK at best.

JimRochester · 08-02-08, 12:49 AM

I was interested in this. Our local reviewer hated it and gave it a 2 out of 10. Normally I wouldn't care but with so much negative I'll wait for the DVD

View Poll Results: "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" Reviews
	5	9.09%
	1	1.82%
	15	27.27%
	17	30.91%
	11	20.00%
	6	10.91%
Voters: 55. You may not vote on this poll

07-31-08, 05:20 PM	#1
scott1598 DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: I want to go to there. Posts: 13,541	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Rob Cohen, 2008) — The Reviews Thread even with 2 free tickets, not sure i will see this... Movie: "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh) Release Date: 8/01/2008 Rating: PG-13 Rotten Tomatoes Reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mumm...ragon_emperor/ Fresh:11 Rotten:102 (10% as of 8/02/08) Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0859163/ Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/univer...ror/large.html Poster Art: __________________ "stranger than fiction" DVD collection "almost famous" SteelBook™ collection "Even though I am no better than a beast, don't I have the right to live?" Last edited by scott1598; 08-02-08 at 05:30 PM.

07-31-08, 05:32 PM	#2
Hokeyboy DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Posts: 6,106	I do not pay to watch Rob Cohen movies. Sorry. But if I sneak in I'll somehow produce a report. __________________ This guy of all people. Hokeyboy, one of the most ignorant, thoughtless posters I've seen on here. I've seen your act and it isn't good. -- bootsy Hokeyboy is like, the biggest douche of the year! -- gglass4269 He's probably a very well paid anticop douche, thank you very much. -- CaptainMarvel

07-31-08, 05:40 PM	#3
mcfly DVD Talk Limited Edition Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: California Posts: 5,304	This looks like a huge pile of crap so I'm not surprised by its reviews. Honestly I wonder if TDK will hold its own again or if this will surprise and do well.. __________________ My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot and a communist, but he is not a porn star!

07-31-08, 07:46 PM	#5
RocShemp DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 7,816	I saw it today and it was solid. It's not perfect but it has a nice pulp action feel and the change of setting was a wise choice. In fact, if they do another, I hope the fourth one goes to yet another locale. In fact, the ending of the film actually hints at that during the closing scene. __________________ So there's simultaneously a super secret team of giant robots and a super secret team of technologically enhanced super soldiers, and neither team knows about the other? The governments in these movies must be far more effective than our actual government. Well, damn it, I want some realism and mature adult themes in my giant robot and super soldier movies! - Suprmallet

07-31-08, 05:53 PM	#4
JPRaup Banned Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: NY Posts: 1,722	Pretty sure I will NEVER watch this movie.

08-01-08, 12:51 AM	#8
fumanstan DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 22,216	I'm not sure i'm going to catch this yet, but that sure is a lot of thread craps from people who haven't seen it yet in the reviews thread. Sheesh. __________________ XBox Live: Fu Man Stan "I've never derived "joy" from either comicbooks or torture porn, so you can imagine how I feel about the mainstream marriage of the two in The Dark Knight" - baracine

08-01-08, 03:03 AM	#10
DJariya DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: La Palma, CA Posts: 8,659	I have the $7.50 movie cash from The Mummy DVD's that were recently released and will see this Friday. I'm a fan of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh and that's pretty much the reason why I will see this.

08-01-08, 09:15 AM	#12
Anubis2005X DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2,507	No Rachel Weiss, no sale!

08-01-08, 02:13 PM	#13
Boba Fett DVD Talk Reviewer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 2,054	I've heard from a few people Yeoh and Li's screen time isn't that great, and that the ads are misleading. __________________ On a gathering storm, comes a tall handsome man. In a dusty black coat with a Red Right Hand.

08-01-08, 02:47 PM	#14
Zodiac_Speaking DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Papillion, NE! Posts: 2,338	It's pretty mediocre but midly fun. It didn't piss me off like Mummy Returns did and this did have better CG. The actor playing Alex was awful; he had weird beats in his line delivery. Li was wasted, but Yeoh was non-existent in this film. Oh and the Yeti giving a "touchdown!" saulte....WTF!? Not as big of an ass stain many have thought but nothing worth remembering either. Grade: ** __________________ Killer Film Come and visit us. Follow me: Twitter: @jonkillerfilm

08-01-08, 05:37 PM	#15
True_Story1011 DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wild Wonderful... Posts: 1,646	No chemistry between any of the actors, there was no motivation for this film or the actor's in it and was extremely surprised that B.Fraiser signed onto this turd wagon... but I guess a couple million dollars sent your way isnt half bad. Oh... and what the fuck is up with Brendan Fraiser looking younger than his son? I couldnt get into this movie at all! I would seriously offer this movie a D- or 1 star.

08-01-08, 05:49 PM	#16
jeffkjoe DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 2,668	Mummy 3 is something that you watch when you've got nothing to do and nothing else to watch. Folks: Please save your money and don't watch this. Times are tough now, and you've got other ways to spend your hard-earned dollar!!!!

08-01-08, 06:15 PM	#17
The Monkees DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 2,410	I was very disappointed in this movie. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good, but I had faith. I love this series, but this one is clearly the worst. I don't see it making very much money. Glad I had movie cash and didn't pay to see it. __________________ The 5th Annual Holiday Movie Challenge (11/23-1/1) Film Articles \| Creepy Eye Films YouTube Page

08-01-08, 08:29 PM	#19
Moleman1138 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 354	Dragon Emperor was an incredible addition to the Mummy franchise if not the best. Campy fun spun from the same yarn as the previous two. It's obvious where Part 4 is going. They can go to Peru and everything but no nuked fridges or aliens.

08-01-08, 08:39 PM	#20
Roybq Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Marysville, WA Posts: 106	I thought it was okay, but it did have a few WTF moments in it. Seriously, Yeti? I had free tickets for it so that helped. If I had paid for a full price ticket for it, I probably would've walked out and found a better movie to watch. I would've rather had them have Rick's wife on some vacation somewhere rather than recast (it didn't work for me especially with the come and go accent) and Rick's son was seriously miscast because I'm pretty sure the couple was a little older than 12 when they had Alex. I did enjoy the action though. It was dumb, but it was "fun" dumb. I also had a serious sense of "Deja Vu" from the movie "300" (like the 1000s of flying arrows and especially the beginning end credits which looked like it ripped off the beginning end credits from "300" credit by credit). I'll recommend it...if you can see this for free. If not, it's worth at least a $1.00 rental.

08-01-08, 09:06 PM	#21
DJariya DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: La Palma, CA Posts: 8,659	I thought it was okay. I only ended up paying $1 to see it after the $7.50 discount. One of the things that I really liked was the opening sequence with narration that explained the background of the Emperor. I'm a big fan of Chinese period films and I thought they did a pretty solid job recreating ancient China. Jet Li was surprisingly mennacing as the villain. Even though his screen time was limited, I thought he did a good job when he was on camera. His character reminded me alot of who he played on "The Warlords." I surprised how little screen time Michelle Yeoh had. The opening sequence that featured her, Li and Russell Wong was really good and it sucked that she didn't return until 1 hour later in the movie. As for the main characters. Brendan Fraser played Rick as well as the 1st two films. Goofy and sometimes charming. Although I thought he had pretty much no chemistry at all with Maria Bello. Bello is a solid B-movie actress, but was horribly miscasted as Evie. I agree that she should have been written out doing something else (maybe a book tour?) than recasted. The colored hair and phoney english accent just didn't work for me at all. Also, I just didn't find her and Fraser believable as a married couple. Rachel Weisz brought alot more charm and sexiness to the character. John Hannah was okay returning as Evie's goofy brother. I didn't like Luke Ford as Rick and Evie's son. I know Rick and Evie are supposed to be in their 40's in this film, but couldn't they have casted someone who looked a little younger than Fraser? Ford is 27 and Fraser is 39. Overall, it was silly and campy fun. For their return back to feature film writing, I thought Al Gough and Miles Millar did an okay job. The script was a little choppy and maybe some of the ancient China scenes could have been fleshed out more. If you liked the 1st two films, then I think this is a worthy viewing to conclude the series (seeing it as a matinee). I would give it between a B- and C+ Anyone notice in the final scene: Spoiler: Rob Cohen dancing with one of the extras.

08-02-08, 12:15 AM	#23
mdc3000 DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Guelph, Ontario Posts: 8,191	Thought it was OK. Nothing special. I love Maria Bello but she's terribly miscast here and has ZERO chemistry with Frasier. The guy playing Alex is also pretty terrible and the two of them really bring the film down a few notches...however the horrendous pacing and Yeti certainly don't help. The 'Retired Rick and Evie' stuff at the beginning is TERRIBLE - feels like a bad sitcom. Had the movie opened with the legend of the Dragon Emperor and then gone straight to the Shanghai sequence, reintroducing us to these characters at Jonathan's bar, I think it would have worked a lot better. (I even think skipping the excavation scene is fine, just tell us that Alex found him etc.) Just get us to the good stuff. The tone in the first half is all over the place and never settles into that 'Goofy but fun B movie' tone that worked so well in the first two. Then of course, there is the Yeti sequence, which feels so out of touch with the entire series it's really jarring. They look cool, but this isn't a world filled with mythical creatures - sure it has Mummies, but that and other undead things are it....having Yeti's show up to help the heroes out of the blue is beyond stupid. Jet Li is pretty effective and the F/X work for his character is pretty dang cool, love when he throws his face etc. and underneath the statue looks great - I can even go with him having the power to turn into a dragon...but then he morphs into... I don't even know what the fuck that was - a giant cyclops rhino or some shit - WTF? Also, the love story with the son, the immortality stuff with Yeoh and the final showdown all feel super rushed. I love the stuff with the undead armies squaring off, that all feels like vintage Mummy movies and is fun... but the real problem is that Rick and Evie take a backseat to new, less interesting characters and never quite feel like themselves. I think this could have been better in someone else's hands for sure... not the abortion some are making it out to be, but not the crowd pleaser that the first two were...and the ending is just WEIRD. You don't end your movie on a joke that you then need an onscreen title to explain...WEAK. 3/5 __________________ Rank 'Em As You See Them 2009 2008 2007 Spending Tab 2009 2008 2007 Follow me on TWITTER Last edited by mdc3000; 08-02-08 at 12:17 AM.

08-02-08, 12:32 AM	#24
FantasticVSDoom DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Deep behind enemy lines...NYC! Posts: 8,942	The Yeti were the best part of the movie... Sure they are out of place, but were pretty cool and brought out the only really good action sequence in the movie. Brendan Frasier is horrible. Everyone else wasnt too bad, but still this movie was just OK at best. __________________ GO REDSOX!!! "Fighting is the best thing a man can have in his soul."-Renzo Gracie

08-02-08, 12:49 AM	#25
JimRochester DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Rochester, NY. USA Posts: 8,301	I was interested in this. Our local reviewer hated it and gave it a 2 out of 10. Normally I wouldn't care but with so much negative I'll wait for the DVD __________________ Pan58" Plasma,Pioneer vsx91, SONY s350, Toshiba A35, Def-Tech speakers supercube sub. Most wanted BD: Armgeddon/BeutyBeast/BevHillsCop/BigRed1/BTTF/Bugsy/DieHard4(R)/Gettysburg/GrossPoint/Honeymoon Vegas/JurassicPark/LionKing/MemphisBelle/Midway/Mohicans/MusicMan/PH(R)/PT&A/Raiders/SoundMusic/Stripes/Sleepless/StarWars/SPR/3King/TinCup/Tombstone/Tora/TrueLies/USMarsh/WhileUSleeping.