Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor suffered some early problems when Rachel Weisz announced she would not be returning in the role of Evelyn.
Maria Bello took over the part and in my opinion does a fine job with the character.
Rob Cohen was brought onboard to direct and he has helmed such entertaining movies as Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart, Daylight and The Fast and the Furious.
Most of the production was shot in China and the tomb in the movie takes it's inspiration from the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and the terracotta army.
Look closely and you will see Jonathan's bar is named Imhotep's which is a nod to the first movie.
Wushu is the martial arts performed in the film.
The film did not do well at the box office in North America but made a lot of money overseas.
The fourth in the franchise The Mummy: Rise Of The Aztecs is currently being written.
Film Plot
Adventurers Rick and Evelyn O'Connell are now retired and very bored and their son Alex O'Connell is in China on an archaeological dig and uncovers the tomb of Emperor Han.
Emperor Han wanted eternal life and to rule the world but sorceress Zi Yuan cast a spell that transformed him and his army into mummies.
When the British government invites the O'Connells to take a relic diamond to China little do they realise it can resurrect Emperor Han. Only a cursed dagger can stop Han from awakening his long dead armies and conquering the world. The O'Connells must stop Han thus the battle between good and evil begins.
Positives
There is much to like about this third installment in the franchise.
The opening scenes with Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are very good and both have great screen presence and i enjoyed the pre-credits story that serves as the plot.
The pacing of the movie was good and early on it's fireworks all the way as we witness a fantastic chase sequence around the streets of Shanghai.
The location shoot really adds to the look of the movie and i am glad they decided to shoot in China rather than recreate it in a studio.
The introduction to Alex who is now all grown up was well done and it's interesting to note that real life excavation of the terracotta army does have to contend with booby traps as seen in this film and thus this lends realism to the film. That scene also has elements of Indiana Jones about it but it's more Raiders Indy than Crystal Skull Indy.
Brendan Fraser clearly enjoys this type of movie and is able to handle himself well in the many action scenes and i also felt Luke Ford did a good job as his son.
Maria Bello is a versatile actress and i felt she handled the action scenes well.
The image on this disc was very film like and full of gorgeous detail.
There was superb depth to the picture and i noticed no issues with edge enhancement, DNR or compression issues. Shadow detail was spot on and black levels perfect.
Sound was reference with clear speech through the center channel even when all the speakers in the sound mix were aggressively used.
I heard fabulous use of the surround speakers with excellent front to back separation.
The bass frequencies went low and deep but were always controlled and never boomy. The room often shook especially during the avalanche sequence which had terrific low bass.
Negatives
The music is good but i do think Jerry Goldsmith's score for the original movie is so much better and i would have liked to have seen it's return as the central theme for this movie.
It could be argued that Emperor Han is not really a mummy but that's splitting hairs and considering it's a sequel i can understand why they wrote the character as they did.
I did feel Rachel Weisz had a little bit more chemistry with Brendan Fraser in the first two movies but as i said above i do feel Maria Bello did a good job.
Luke Ford perhaps looks a little too old to play their son.
Final Thoughts
There have been various reviews of this film slating Maria Bello or saying the CGI is weak or that it's a sequel too far but i personally found the CGI and Maria Bello's performance very good.
I enjoyed the film a lot and possibly more so than the first sequel The Mummy Returns.
The original film is still the best but this is good also.
I am someone who usually does not like it when a well known face gets replaced in a part they have made their own but i can say that after the first twenty minutes of this movie i warmed to Miss Bello's performance and did not miss Rachel Weisz at all.
The CGI was in my opinion very good.
Early on in the production they knew Jet Li would not be around to shoot scenes so decided to go with a terracotta CGI version of him and i think they did a good job and it works for me.
I liked the Yeti scenes and i found the scenes near the end of the film with the armies fighting each other to be exciting and in my opinion to have good CGI.
The standout for me was the three headed dragon and i thought that was excellent CGI. I believe there is a small issue for the eagle eyed with the plane scene landing in the snow capped mountains but it's minor at best.
There were some good witty lines between Rick and Evie and i feel that most people forget this is a movie which you sit back and dim the lights and just enjoy for it's rollercoaster ride.
This is a reference disc for image and sound quality. I also feel this is a worthwhile sequel and you will be entertained. I look forward to the fourth movie which may hit cinema's around 2011.
Technical Disc Specifications
Releasing Studio – Universal
Film Running Time – 112 minutes ( approx )
Disc Format – BD-50
Encoding – AVC ( MPEG 4 )
Film Aspect Ratio – 2.40:1
Blu Ray Resolution – 1080p/24
Audio Format – DTS Master Audio 5.1
Starring Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, Luke Ford, John Hannah, Isabella Leong, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li and featuring Jacky Wu
Directed by Rob Cohen
This is a region free release
Film Entertainment Rating – 8.5/10
Transfer Quality – 9/10
Sound Mix – 9.5/10