The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writers (WGA):

Alfred Gough (written by) &
Miles Millar (written by)

Release Date:

1 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A New Evil Awakens.

Plot:

In the Far East, Alex O'Connell, the son of famed mummy fighters Rick and Evy O'Connell, unearths the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin -- a shape-shifting entity cursed by a witch centuries ago.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Shangri La | Mummy | China | Army

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Brendan Fraser	...	Richard 'Rick' O'Connell
Jet Li	...	Emperor Han
Maria Bello	...	Evelyn O'Connell
John Hannah	...	Jonathan Carnahan
Michelle Yeoh	...	Zi Juan
Luke Ford	...	Alex O'Connell
Isabella Leong	...	Lin
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	General Yang (as Chau Sang Anthony Wong)
Russell Wong	...	General Ming Guo
Liam Cunningham	...	Mad Dog Maguire
David Calder	...	Prof. Roger Wilson
Jessey Meng	...	Choi
Tian Liang	...	Li Zhou
Albert Kwan	...	Chu Wah
Jacky Wu	...	Assassin #1 (as Wu Jing)

Also Known As:

Die Mumie - Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers (Germany)
The Mummy 3 (USA) (informal title)
Untitled Rick O'Connell Adventure (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44602) | Malaysia:U | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Finland:K-13 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Brazil:12 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:11 | Australia:M | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Denmark:11 | Austria:12 | Taiwan:PG-12

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The small device that triggers a trap by dropping a bronze marble from a dragon's mouth to a frog's mouth is inspired by an ancient instrument that could predict the direction of a coming earthquake. It is considered the first seismograph.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The O'Connells keep calling Jet Li's character and his Terracotta Army "mummys". Yet not one character in this movie goes through the mummification process. The only mummy we see is the fake emperor that Lin stabs.

Quotes:

Jonathan Carnahan: Die you mummy bastards. Die.
Mad Dog Maguire: There is no call for bad language.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Jet Li: Crafting the Emperor Mummy (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

oh, my Lord

My 11 year old son dragged us to see this. I don't spend as much time with the kid as I ought to. So, I happily paid the $40 for admission and gold-plated popcorn bucket. I didn't know Rachael W. wasn't in this one, and I can now say she rocks. Looks, talent, AND brains to avoid a celluloid crap-fest when she sees it. Anyway:

15 minutes into the film, the kid turns to me and says "I'm sorry I made you see this". I say "Oh, it's okay. We're at the movies together, having fun!"; he didn't believe my acting any more than he did that awful woman who's trying her best, apparently, to fake 3 different English accents (or was one of them Australian) and pretend she's enjoying being on screen in this TURD.

30 minutes into the film: I'm wishing I had a cellphone, so I could call in a bomb threat and get the theater emptied.

45 minutes into the film: I go to the bathroom. Theatre-hop into the middle of Mamma Mia. No kidding. Stay there for about 5 minutes (during the "Does Your Mama Know" number. Seen it twice; love it.

60 minutes into the film: Discover the kid has fallen asleep. We're at a 5 pm showing, by the way.

75 minutes into the film: I have the worst luck in theatres; if there's a crying baby, his parents will sit immediately behind me. If there's a person whose hearing was damaged by too much disco, he'll sit beside me and shout questions at his wife or boyfriend through the whole thing. You know; things like this have made me spend the money and buy a home theater with 9' screen. I still love going to the theater, however. Anyway, when the 4 year old that sits near us starts talking in his "outside voice" to his obviously deaf Grandma and Pa (or is it Great-Grandma and Pa), instead of yelling "Shut UP!" like I normally do, I start listening to HIM; it's actually more entertaining.

90-something minutes into the film: Now, I'm no longer wishing for the cellphone and have gone straight to wishing I had an actual bomb, so I could get the theater emptied out.

The End of the Film: the bedraggled audience weakly applauds the fact that it's over. No kidding. I hear people leaving, saying things like "maybe we can get our money back", and "That SUCKED". I've never heard things like that on exit from a movie like this before, and I see a LOT of movies. The kid apologizes again. I say "You OWE me. Big Time." He says "I'm soooo sorry this sucked so bad".

Did you get that, moviemaker sellouts? An 11 year old kid! Loves Star Wars, James Bond, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. And your movie is SO bad, he feels GUILTY about me spending our money to see it! Where can I send this bill I've created for having my intelligence insulted by Mario Bello, a beautiful woman who's apparently never even HEARD of England? Maybe it's not her fault. Maybe her family has B-S'd her all her life, telling her how she sounds "just like those Harry Potter movies" or something. Pathetic is not a word that comes close. I'll have to create a new one: Skantasticalistically Snarxious. Trust me. Burn your money. Don't even go to it thinking you'll be able to make fun of it, like Rocky Horror. Let's all pitch in and bury this deep, like you're supposed to do with rotting corpses.

Geez. BTW< I would not suggest calling in a bomb threat. Nope, never do THAT. It's bad. And stay in school. Drugs are for losers. Vote. Tip your waiters.