'The Mummy 3' Review

Resurrected: Jet Li as a 2,000-year-old tyrant in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.  Watch the trailer: http://www.themummy.com/

    I haven't seen the first two installments of this franchise since seeing them at the movies so I'm fuzzy on their details.  Yes they were entertaining and so was this one.  More money has been spent on the almost never ending parade of special effects but this is what audiences seem to want to see. More & more  movies like Wanted and The Dark Knight overwhelm your senses with fast paced action and editing. In this third Mummy there's hardly any 'slow' parts spaced between the assault on your eyes & ears.  It's over the top but entertaining hokum with enough laughs in the manner of the Indiana Jones saga. The trailer says it all.

     Brendan Fraser has a new actress replacing Rachel Weisz as his wife. Maria Bello offers fine support as a daring-do authoress accompanying him on their journey. I don't recall Weisz's version as funny but that will need rewatching the previous two movies. This time their son is of college age and a tomb raider whose action sets the plot in motion.  They are tricked into releasing a mummified Chinese emperor (Jet Li)  from a 2000 year old spell. Li scowls a lot but he's allowed because he's the cruel villain and not so good with English dialogue. The lovely & classy Michelle Yeoh plays his equally old nemesis who returns to stop him from reviving his army and she kicks ass as well as any man but in a more graceful manner.  Check out Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  For those who hate reading subtitles, the DVD has an English soundtrack.     

      There's almost every cliche from a Chinese Martial Arts film in Mummy 3 as well as the usual Indy Jones rip offs.  Even the Abominal Snowman or Yeti (actually three of them) show up in the mountain scene.  There's plenty of fights, explosions, gunfire, and noise to keep you attentive. If that's not enough there's three love stories juggled amid the mayhem: one old (Fraser & Bello), one new (their son & a Chinese gal),and an ancient one ( Yeoh & a general killed by Li). Throw in morphing monsters and the dead brought back to life, what more could an action/horror movie junkie want? 

     No we didn't take Mom to see this although she enjoyed Forbidden Kingdom with Li and Jackie Chan. We planned to take her to see Swing Vote but heavy rains changed our plans. Next Saturday for that one.....