The
Mummy - Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008/Universal
Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture:
A-/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: B- Film: C
NOTE:
This film has now been issued in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format.
Why can't we
leave the dead alone? Hasn't anyone ever heard of 'rest in peace?'
Recently, Universal Pictures decided to resurrect The Mummy
film series that had already spawned 2 films and one catastrophic
spin-off. Almost 10 years after the original film (i.e. - The
Mummy remake) was made the audience gets to experience something
they never asked for in the first place, The Mummy: Tomb of the
Dragon Emperor. Essentially, The Mummy 3 - Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor brings back Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell, the
daredevil treasure hunter, who has since the last film retired with
his lovely wife Evelyn (now played by Maria Bello) at their huge
estate in England. After some unfortunate events Rick and Evelyn are
forced to go on an all new adventure with their son Alex (Luke Ford)
to once again save the world from disaster.
This time
around the gang leaves Egypt behind and ventures off to China, where
The First Emperor of China, Han the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li), has been
awaken from his cursed grave. Throughout the film the Emperor
attempts to break an age old curse that was placed on him by the
witch Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh) and raise his army to overtake the
world. The three O'Connell's and Evelyn's brother (still played by
John Hannah) set out to stop the Dragon Emperor's evil intentions,
but the journey is a difficult one. Their path to stop the emperor
is filled with curses, fire, snow, and Yetis…yes Yetis. The story
is very convoluted with nonsense actions sequences that barely make
sense, coupled with an even more ridiculous plot. There were many
laughable moments in the film that were certainly not meant to be
funny. Brendan Fraser certainly seemed bored throughout the film and
other cast members didn't even show back up for this third
installment. This film series has definitely had enough installments
and it is time to lay it to rest.
The technical
features on the Blu-ray release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor are exquisite. The picture is clean, crisp, and colorful
in its 1080p High Definition 2.35 X 1 Widescreen. The blacks are
deep and each scene embodies a solid texture palate that not many
films have yet to embrace, even on Blu-ray. The sound is presented
in an awesome English DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix that
uses every speaker to create a full soundstage with wonderful
directionality. The dialogue is well positioned and does not focus
on just the central speakers. Ambient noises are nicely heard and
the action powerfully 'booms' throughout every sequence.
The extras on
the DVD and Blu-ray include Deleted and Extended Scenes, Feature
Commentary with Director Rob Cohen, Preparing for Battle with
Brendan Fraser and Jet Li, The Making of The Mummy: Tomb of
the Dragon Emperor (available in HD on the Blu-ray), Jet Li:
Crafting the Emperor Mummy, Creating New and Supernatural
Worlds, Legacy of the Terra Cotta and A Call to Action:
The Casting Process.
There are
some High Definition features that appear on the Blu-ray exclusively.
These extras include Picture-in-Picture, From City to Desert
Featurette, and Visual Commentary with Director Rob Cohen. Also
included on this Universal title are some U-Control features, which
include The Dragon Emperor's Challenge trivia game, Know
Your Mummy that shows the connections between all three films,
and Scene Explorer which allows the viewer to see the film from up to
four different angles. Overall, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor has a nice amount of extras that are fairly rewatchable,
if you enjoy the film that is.
The
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was
an unnecessary film, end of story.
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
