THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR [PG-13]
review by Robert Newton

Forgive the lazy allusion to the undead, but the figurative and actual thrill ride that is Universal’s (Not Indiana Jones) The Mummy franchise shows no signs of dying, at least not yet. The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor perfectly serviceable, long overdue third installment in the series, which started with The Mummy in 1999 and continued in The Mummy Returns in 2001, again features Brendan Fraser (fresh off the 3-D surprise Journey To The Center Of The Earth) as renowned adventurer Rick O’Connell. Since last Rick was re-slaying the evil Egyptian mummy Imhotep, he has settled into a comfortable home life with wife Evie (Maria Bello), their son, Alex (Luke Ford) having set off for a life of his own. In other words, he and Evie are bored as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore.

Like the part of Rachel Dawes was re-cast between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, so has the part of Evie, passing from Rachel Weisz in the first two to Maria Bello (World Trade Center) in this one. Here, though, “Smallville” creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar give the audience a cheeky and knowing wink-wink that its female lead is another actor entirely, and it’s one of the movie’s many gags. Occasionally, they lay the humor on too heavy — mostly by way of the character of Evie’s brother, Jonathan (John Hannah) — but for the most part, it all works pretty well together.

Insuring that this one will play big all around the world is the addition of Jet Li to the cast. The Chinese superstar plays Emperor Han, a power-mad conqueror who is granted eternal life by scorned witch, Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh). Too bad for him that it’s the kind of eternal life that involves standing lifeless in a cave as a terra cotta garden decoration until your curse is lifted by greed and a convenient plot development. Li doesn’t get much to do, though, as much of the character’s screen time is by doubles under grotesque and heavy latex, prosthetic and digital make-up. Sprightly newbie Isabella Leong, as the immortal Zi’s eternally loyal daughter, Lin, is a nice addition, though Aussie actor Ford’s part and her interaction with him is a bit underwritten.

While Gough and Millar don’t give us a whole lot of reasons to say, “That was better than the original!”, they and able helmer Rob Cohen know what people want to see, and they deliver plenty of it. The locations are swell to look at, the sets boast spectacle and there is plenty of action. There is a great chase scene featuring an animated metal chariot horse and a truckload of fireworks, plentiful gunfights and swordplay, marauding Harryhausen skeletons, and if that wasn’t cool enough, fighting yetis — holy cow, there are fighting yetis!

Universal would do well to spin off the yetis like they did with the character of The Scorpion King after The Mummy Returns. Or they could license them out for commercials in which they filet and eat the Geico cavemen. Or maybe they could even get giant comic Brad Garrett to play one on a sitcom called “Leave It To Bumble” or “Everybody Loves Yeti,” because as still-fun as this Mummy may be, people will forget the Not Indiana Jones series eventually. The sheer awfulness of an idea like “Someone To Sasquatch Over Me” or “B.J. and the Bigfoot” — like “The Star Wars Holiday Special” or “The Harlem Globetrotters On Gilligan’s Island” — would guarantee that even after the franchise inevitably ends, it would never really pass from our pop culture consciousness and die.•••

Robert Newton is the editor of WorcesterMovies.