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 [15]” 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”. [16] View our full, high-resolution “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” image gallery. [17] |
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.
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[15] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/reviews/3123/the-dark-knight-bestows-role-of-a-lifetime-for-heath-ledger-epic-proportions-for-itself
[16] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/reviews/3280/despite-jet-lis-would-be-resurrection-the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor-still-flops
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