(detailed information about this entry from Wikipedia)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor[3] is a 2008 American adventure film that follows The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It was released on August 1, 2008 in the US.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is directed by Rob Cohen and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel, Stephen Sommers and James Jacks produce the film.
The emperor on which this fictitious account was based was Qin Shi Huang and not the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han.
The film begins with a narration about the rise to power of Emperor Jin, the Dragon Emperor. He conquered all his enemies, many of whom were buried under the Great Wall of China, and mastered the five elements, but could not conquer death. To that end, he sought the help of Zi Yuan, who knew where to find the secret of immortality. Jin declares to his first in command, General Ming, that no one is to touch her; however, the two fell in love during their search. After Zi Yuan supposedly casts the immortality spell on Jin, he ushers Zi Yuan to the balcony to watch as General Ming is pulled apart by horses. He then stabs Zi Yuan. She reveals that she has in fact cursed the Emperor and his army, turning them into terra cotta statues, and manages to escape.
The film jumps ahead to 1946. Explorer Rick O'Connell, his wife Evelyn, and brother-in-law Jonathan are now retired. Their son Alex has dropped out of school and become an adventurer like his parents. With the financial backing of Roger Wilson, Alex locates the Dragon Emperor's tomb. Though he is attacked by a mysterious woman, he avoids harm and successfully brings the Emperor back to Shanghai. In the meantime, the British government entrusts the elder O'Connells to take the Eye of Shangri-La back to China as a good faith gesture from the British to the Chinese. All the O'Connells arrive at Imhotep, a night club in Shanghai owned by Jonathan. Alex gives his parents a tour of the exhibit, where it is revealed that Roger Wilson is in league with a paramilitary group led by General Yang and his second in command Choi. Using the Eye of Shangri-La, which contains water from Shangri-La, they are able to resurrect the Emperor. The mysterious woman from the excavation site tries to kill the Emperor with a dagger cursed by Zi Yuan, but he manages to escape.
The mysterious woman reveals herself to be Lin, a protector of the Dragon Emperor's tomb. She explains that the path to Shangri-La can be revealed using the Eye. The O'Connells, Jonathan, and Lin trek through the Himalayas with the help of Rick's pilot friend Mad Dog Maguire and reach the tower that will reveal the path to Shangri-La when the Eye is placed on top of it. General Yang, his soldiers, and the Emperor arrive shortly after. Lin summons a trio of yeti to assist in the battle, but the Emperor ultimately succeeds in placing the Eye atop the golden tower. Rick is stabbed by the Dragon Emperor's sword while protecting Alex. Alex triggers an avalanche, which buys them time to reach Shangri-La first.
They reach Shangri-La first and Rick is healed by Zi Yuan, who was rescued by the yeti after cursing the Emperor. She is revealed to be Lin's mother, General Ming having fathered her shortly before his death. Using the water, they have become immortal and have guarded the secrets of the Emperor for over 2,000 years. The Emperor arrives and is able to bathe in the pool, restoring his physical form and giving him shape-shifting abilities. He takes the form of a three-headed dragon, kidnaps Lin, and flies to his Terracotta Army at the excavation site.
The Emperor summons his army, which will become invincible should it cross the Great Wall. To buy time, Zi Yuan sacrifices her immortality and that of her daughter to revive those buried beneath the Great Wall. Led by General Ming, the undead army and the Terra Cotta army fight. A massive battle ensues, during which Zi Yuan and the Emperor fight one-on-one. Zi Yuan sacrifices herself to steal back the cursed dagger. Alex saves Lin and they find Zi Yuan dying soon after. She gives Lin the dagger and tells her to stab the Emperor through the heart. While Rick and Alex head off to fight the Emperor, Evelyn and Lin fight and kill General Yang and Choi. Rick and Alex find themselves outmatched against the shape-shifting Emperor, and the dagger is broken during the confrontation. Rick goads the Emperor into fighting fair, and manages to plunge the dagger hilt his heart. Alex in turn stabs him in the back, fusing the dagger within the Emperor's heart. The Emperor dies a dramatic death in flame.
Back at Imhoteps, Mad Dog is the new owner and the now-mortal Lin is dancing with Alex. Rick and Evelyn are dancing as well. Jonathan decides to move to Peru with the Eye of Shangri-La, a place he claims has no mummies. After he leaves, a caption appears on the screen stating that a few weeks later there were mummies discovered in Peru.
[edit] Production
In November 2001, director Stephen Sommers, who directed the previous Mummy films, said about directing a third Mummy film, "There's a demand for it, but most of the gang would only be up for it again if we could find a way to make it bigger and better."[4] In May 2004, Sommers expressed his doubts about having the energy to make a third Mummy, though the cast of previous films had expressed interest in returning.[5] In December 2005, a review of a script written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar was about a Chinese mummy (China's first emperor, who wants to take over the world with his army of accursed warriors in 1940). The idea of the emperor and his army is based on the real-life Qin emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was buried amidst thousands of crafted and fired terra cotta soldiers, called the Terracotta Army, dated at latest to 210 BC. (Incidentally, the Terracotta Army is actually mentioned at the end of the novelization as something that will be discovered in the future, although its relation to the emperor's army, or rather how the destroyed army made it into the site is left unexplained.) [6]
[edit] Casting
In March 2006, actor Oded Fehr said Sommers had told him a third film was in development and being written, with only Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz's characters returning for the sequel.[7] The following September, director Joe Johnston was offered the helm by Universal Pictures, who hoped to start filming early in 2007.[8] Later in the month, Weisz expressed interest in reprising her role.[9]
In January 2007, Universal announced that Stephen Sommers, director of the first two Mummy films, would not be attached to direct the third film. It was then announced that Universal entered talks with director Rob Cohen to take the helm from Sommers as the director of the third Mummy.[10] Later in the month, the story was revealed to center around Brendan Fraser's and Rachel Weisz's characters, as well as their now grown-up son. Negotiations with the actors were in progress at that time.[11] In February, casting began for the role of Alex O'Connell. In addition, the character of Jonathan, previously portrayed by John Hannah, will return for the sequel.[3] Also in February, director Rob Cohen mentioned that Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh will star in the movie although the official confirmation was not published until May.[12][13]
In April, Fraser re-joined the cast for The Mummy 3.[14] Weisz did not, citing "problems with the script."[15][16] The film was shot in Montreal[17] and China. The movie was reported to be titled The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.[18] In April, Luke Ford was cast as Alex O'Connell,[19] and in May, Maria Bello was cast to replace Weisz in the role of Evelyn. Bello reported during an interview that the new "Evy" is different from the original "Evy". "She has the same name, but she's quite a different character," said Bello.[20] At a news conference in Shanghai, Bello told the audience that "Rob Cohen has 'created a new Evy ... in the first two Mummy's she was all actiony and lovely, but this Evy might be a little more ... forceful in terms of her martial art skills and shooting skills'".[21]
[edit] Filming
Principal photography started at Mel’s Cite du Cinema in Montreal. There, the Eye of Shangri-la scenes were shot by production designer Nigel Phelps.The team then shot on the courtyard set of gateway to Shangri-la. The courtyard was dressed with fake snow, created by effects supervisor Bruce Steinheimer’s team.[22]
At the ADF stage in the city, Phelps’s team created sets of the Terra Cotta mausoleum. Set decorator, Anne Kuljian made 20 different statue heads and interchanged between shots. One soldier and horse statue was bought from China, and then copies of it were made in a workshop in Montreal. Propmaster Kim Wai Chung supervised the making of the horses’ bridles and mausoleum ornaments in China. Meanwhile at Mel’s the brutal battle between the Emperor and Rick, the first scene shot with Jet Li.[22]
On October 15 2007, the team moved to China. At Shanghai Studios, an set depicting the city in 1940's was used for the chase sequence shot in 3 weeks. Gen. Yang’s camp was filmed in a Ming village near Tian Mo. at the studio, Chinese cultural advisers aided Cohen in order to depict the Qin Dynasty language and ceremonies.[22]
The crew frequently had to halt in and near Shanghai when soldiers marched. The setting of desert battlefield was actually a training facility for the Chinese army that was leased.[23]
[edit] Effects
The visual effects were done by two Los Angeles-based VFX houses. Rhythm and Hues designed the yetis and dragons, while Digital Domain will handle the battle scenes with Jet Li's terracotta warriors. The pool of water resembling diamonds took Rhythm and Hues 11 months to complete.[24] The award winning A.I software Massive which was used on Lord of the Rings will be used to create the undead battle scenes.
Design company Imaginary Forces created the opening title sequence and end titles. IF designers also shot real paint splatters and brushstrokes. To portray an "accurate and historic China," they turned to calligrapher T.Z. Yuan for ink brush writing.[25]
The bulk of the score in the movie is composed by veteran composer Randy Edelman. The soundtrack will feature numerous different Chinese and Middle Eastern ethnic instruments along with classic British folklore, and is expected to be released on July 29 by Varese Sarabande records, two days before the film's initial release. Composer John Debney provided additional re-scored material for most of the bigger action sequences, which was recorded in July 2008.
[edit] Marketing
The Mummy Movie Prequel: The Rise & Fall of Xango's Ax, a comic book limited series by IDW Publishing, will be published to promote the film. The comic explores the relationship between Rick and his son Alex.[26]
The trailer for the film debuted on May 16, 2008.[citation needed]
Sierra Entertainment made a game version of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for Wii, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, which was released on July 22, 2008 in North America. [27] Gameloft made game version of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for mobile phones. [28]
[edit] Reception
Critical reaction to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor has been negative so far. On the film's release date (August 1, 2008), it held a 9% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 115 reviews.[29] Metacritic reported, based on 30 reviews, an average rating of 31 out of 100.[30]
A positive review came from Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave the film three stars (out of four). Ebert remarked, "Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why." Ebert also states that it is the best in the series.[31] Nathan Rabin of The Onion's A.V. Club also gave a positive review, who said the film "succeeds largely through sheer excess."[32] William Arnold of Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave a mildly positive review, saying that "anyone in the market for an overblown and totally mindless adventure-comedy will certainly get his money's worth."[33]
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said the film "has some good things [but] does not have enough of them to make the third time the charm."[34] Ken Fox of TV Guide called the film "passable popcorn fare."[35] Jennie Punter of The Globe and Mail said the film is "kind of fun, but the twists and turns are all too familiar."[36] Michael Sragow of the Baltimore Sun said the film is "like an Indiana Jones movie without rhythm, wit or personality, just a desperate, headlong pace."[37] Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News said that "boredom is the very basis of this sequel."[38]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "just freakin' awful."[39] Jane Horwitz of the Washington Post called it "tiresome and messy."[40] Stephen Holden of the New York Times called it a "frantic, cluttered mess of cheesy computer-generated action-adventure clichés."[41] Andrea Gronvall of the Chicago Reader said the film "lacks any supernatural chills."[42] Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle called the film "little more than a cluttered, noisy, and unsatisfying thrill ride to nowhere."[43] Lawrence Toppman of the Charlotte Observer said, "I'm afraid it just stinks."[44]
Pete Hammond of Back Stage said that the next installment in the series should be a Broadway musical, not a film.[45] Matt Stephens of E! described it as "stale plotting, cheesy CGI, [and] cadaver-stiff acting."[46] Jane Horwitz of Washington Post said it "borrows mightily" from Indiana Jones and martial arts films.[47] Ty Burr of Boston Globe states: "Despite exotic locations, epic cinematography, and much spectacular crash and bang, this "Mummy" feels like a threadbare toss-off."[48] Richard Corliss of Time magazine while praising the final fight scene between Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, described it as two movies: "a good adventure epic, with all the Chinese people, and a wan one, with O'Connells and the other the Westerners."[49] Jake Coyle of Starpulse states: "Like recent films such as "300" or the new "Indiana Jones," Tomb of the Dragon Emperor uses history like a prop — a loose costume for ludicrous plot lines."[50] Chris Hewitt of TwinCities.com said that Rachel Weisz "comes off best" for opting out and criticised Maria Bello's performance.[51]
[edit] Box Office Performance
The film was the top-grossing film the day it opened, earning $15.3 million (The Dark Knight was in second place with $12 million) on Friday. However, the film failed to be number one overall in the box office on opening weekend, claiming only $42.4 million, which allowed The Dark Knight to claim the top spot for the third week in a row with $43.8 million.
[edit] Sequels
Actress Maria Bello stated in an interview that another Mummy film will "absolutely" be made, and that she has already signed on.[52] Actor Luke Ford is signed on for three more films.[53] Bello even hinted the fourth may be in South America, keeping with Jonathan's move to Peru at the end.
[edit] References
- ^ "The Mummy and Hellboy 2 Switch Dates", ComingSoon.net (2007-07-27). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
- ^ "Universal's re-born identity", Variety.com (2008-02-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
- ^ a b "The Mummy 3 Gets New Title and Date", Worst Previews (2007-07-27). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
- ^ Steve Head; Brian Linder (2001-11-15). "New Scorpion King Pics and More!", IGN. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ "Sommers Won't Helm Mummy 3", Sci Fi Wire (2004-05-19). Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Michael Vaal (2005-12-03). "Exclusive Script Review: Mummy III Script", IESB.net. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Clint Morris (2006-03-16). "Fehr talks The Mummy 3", Moviehole.net. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Stax (2006-09-07). "Fraser Set For Mummy 3?", IGN. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ Paul Davidson (2006-09-11). "Weisz Wants Mummy III", IGN. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.
- ^ Gabriel Snyder (2007-01-09). "Cohen in talks for 'Mummy 3'", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.
- ^ Cindy White (2007-01-22). "Mummy 3 Spoilers Unwrapped", SciFi.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- ^ Stax (2007-02-16). "Mummy 3 Exclusive - Character and casting scoops!", IGN.
- ^ Michael Fleming (2007-05-04). "Li and Yeoh take "Mummy" roles", Variety.
- ^ Diane Garrett; Michael Fleming (2007-04-11). "Fraser returns for 'Mummy 3'", Variety. Retrieved on 2008-07-15.
- ^ http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rachel-Weisz-Leaves-Mummy-3-4912.html
- ^ Beth Hilton (2007-05-07). "Weisz criticised for 'Mummy' decision", Digital Spy. Retrieved on 2008-07-15.
- ^ Patricia Bailey (2007-02-27). "Mummy moves back to Montreal", Playback. Retrieved on 2007-02-28.
- ^ "New Title for Mummy 3", Bloody Disgusting (2007-04-20).
- ^ Michael Fleming (2007-04-30). "Ford to star in third 'Mummy'", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ^ Michael Fleming (2007-05-13). "Bello replaces Weisz in 'Mummy'", Variety. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpKrL68x1Mw
- ^ a b c Mummy, The: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor--Shooting in China Accessed on Aug 1, 08
- ^ http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/07/30/mummy_cast_aamp_crew_shared_battleground
- ^ LA-based S'porean creates magic on the silverscreen by Stacey Chia The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. July 26, 2008
- ^ IF Captures Grandeur Of China In The Mummy Titles VFX World. Animation World Network. August 1, 2008
- ^ Bill Radford (2008-03-23). "Starscream transformed into comic book", Detroit Free Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
- ^ Sierra Entertainment (2008-05-08). "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor to Rise This Summer.", Sierra Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-07-10.
- ^ Cosmin Vasile (2008-05-08). "Gameloft Announces "The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" Mobile Game - To be available this summer", Softpedia. Retrieved on 2008-07-30.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor".
- ^ Metacritic. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor".
- ^ Review by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- ^ Review by Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club
- ^ Review by William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- ^ Review by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
- ^ Review by Ken Fox, TV Guide
- ^ Review by Jennie Punter, The Globe and Mail
- ^ Review by Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun
- ^ Review by Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
- ^ Review by Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
- ^ Review by Jane Horwitz, Washington Post
- ^ Review by Stephen Holden, The New York Times
- ^ Review by Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
- ^ Review by Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
- ^ Review by Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
- ^ Hammond, Pete. Movie Review BackStage. Retrieved on August 1, 2008
- ^ http://www.eonline.com/movies/e_reviews/index.jsp?uuid=009cefe8-0ed4-4522-a970-d102400fd1e0
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1145220&categories=Movies&nm=1#editorialReview
- ^ http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=10191
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1828343,00.html
- ^ Mummy Heads East For Olympian Senselessness 2008-07-31
- ^ http://www.twincities.com/movies/ci_10054561?nclick_check=1
- ^ Shawn Adler (2008-03-10). "'Mummy 3' Star Maria Bello Talks About Taking Over For Rachel Weisz, Fighting An Invisible Baddie", MTV. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
- ^ "Luke Ford Signed For Three 'Mummy' Films", Bloody-Disgusting (2008-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-07-20.
[edit] External links
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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) 
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The Mummy 3 (2008) (USA)
