Despite Jet Li’s Would-Be Resurrection, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ Still Flops

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CHICAGO – The threequel that culminates with “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” is so hackneyed that even the main star of the previous two films – Brendan Fraser – wasn’t enough to sell audiences on a third return. Universal Studios needed to enlist co-star Jet Li to stand a fighting chance and take the mood the Asian way.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

If there’s a single success this may have, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” may finally be the only film that can vanquish the epic, two-week reign of “The Dark Knight” at the box office. Projections target approximately $50 million for its opening weekend.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. View our full, high-resolution “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” image gallery.

Brendan Fraser’s Hollywood dossier is currently most memorable for these three films, which progress from mediocre all the way to 2008’s tragedy.

Likewise, Fraser in the Indiana Jones-like role (but not nearly as well-scripted as Harrison Ford’s character) is a surefire recipe for mediocrity.

It’s no mystery why the evolution from “The Mummy” in 1999 ($43.4 million opening; $155.4 million total) and then “The Mummy Returns” ($68 million opening; $202 million total) only two years later in 2001 took seven years to yield “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”.

The filmmakers, studio and production companies clearly spent seven years flailing about a single question: Do we really want to make a third or should we just let this one go at two?

In the decision to green-light the threequel, Jet Li’s star power and villainous character clearly was the film’s attempt for rejuvenation.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” review.

Jet Li as the vicious emperor comes back to life in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the spectacular Himalayas.
Photo credit: Digital Domain, copyright Universal Studios

Explorers Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn O’Connell (Maria Bello) in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” which races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the spectacular Himalayas.
Photo credit: Digital Domain, copyright Universal Studios

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” review.