The blockbuster global Mummy franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O'Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that... The blockbuster global Mummy franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O'Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O'Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.
In a move that seems cynically designed to cash in on Asian audiences, the third entry in the Mummy franchise -- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor -- moves the action from the Middle East to the Far East, with married adventurers Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evy O'Connell (Maria Bello, replacing Rachel Weisz) heading to China where they are reunited with their twentysomething son Alex (Aussie newcomer Luke Ford), who has uncovered the tomb of a long-dead evil emperor.
Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, China's ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O'Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents. As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force...unless the O'Connells can stop him first. Now, in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the trademark thrills and visually spectacular action of the Mummy series will be redefined for a new generation. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is helmed by director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, xXx) and written by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Spider-Man 2, television's Smallville). Reprising their roles as producers in the series are Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel, Stephen Sommers and James Jacks
Gaps in story logic and an abundance of half-baked ideas aren't the only problems. The story is dependent on the character of Alex, who is clearly meant to be a spin-off character the same way Shia LaBeouf's "Mutt" was in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Unfortunately, Luke Ford is horrible and seems incapable of carrying a franchise on his own. Wooden, unfunny and generic, Ford more often than not recalls the retarded Matt Damon in Team America: World Police. And at what point in the character's history did the O'Connells' British kid become American?
