-August 01, 2008-
The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Brendan Fraser
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It's not as good as the 1999's enjoyable THE MUMMY or even the lesser 2001 sequel, THE MUMMY RETURNS: The formula is wearing thin, the humor has grown a little too corny and those yeti make SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED look state of the art. But this third entry in the popular MUMMY series -- not counting the 2002 spin-off THE SCORPION KING -- is still passable popcorn fare, even if you'll barely taste it before swallowing. Full Review

The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor Details>>

Year: 2008
Rated PG
Parental Rating: Cautionary; some scenes objectionable
Country Of Origin: U.S.
Running Time: 113
Format: Color
Genre(s): Adventure; Horror
Production Co(s).: Alphaville Productions; Relativity Media; Sommers Company
Released By: Universal
Cast
Brendan Fraser: Rick O'Connell
Jet Li: Emperor Han
Maria Bello: Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell
John Hannah: Jonathan Carnahan
Michelle Yeoh: Zi Yuan
Luke Ford: Alex O'Connell
Russell Wong: Ming Guo
Liam Cunningham: Maguire
Isabella Leong: Lin
Chau Sang Anthony Wong: General Yang
David Calder: Roger Wilson
Jessey Meng: Choi
Liang Tian: Li Zhou
Albert Kwan: Chu Wah
Wu Jing: Assassin
Wei Binghua: Assassin
Guo Jing: Assassin
Alison Louder: Woman in Bookstore
Marcia Nasatir: Russian Princess
Emerald Starr: Man in Bar
Helen Feng: Nightclub Singer
Stella Maryna Troshyna: Brunette at Imhotep's
James Bradford: Butler Jameson
Daniel Giverin: Benjamin Fry
Ken C. Tran: Yang's Soldier
Allan Chou: Yang's Soldier
Fernando Fu-Nan Chien: Yang's Soldier
Jeffrey Ong: Yang's Soldier
Chris Mark: Yang's Soldier
James Mark: Yang's Soldier
Mike Ching: Yang's Soldier
Darryl Quon: Yang's Soldier
Alex Chiang: Yang's Soldier
Paul Wu: Yang's Soldier
Larry Lam: Yang's Soldier
Brian Ho: Yang's Soldier
Luu Vi-Hung: Yang's Soldier
Huy-Phong Doan: Yang's Soldier
Kyle Burnett Cashulin: Mad Dog's Pal
Charles Esposito: Mad Dog's Pal
Mike Scherer: Yeti
Scott Taylor: Yeti
Kham Tri Vixa Ysy: Chinese Digger
Don Lew: Chinese Digger
Regis Attiow: Mystic
Tony Wai: Mystic
Wu Yungstun: Mystic
Guangxu Xiang: Mystic
Lam Cong-Quyen: Mystic

Credits
Rob Cohen: Director
Alfred Gough: Writer
Miles Millar: Writer
Sean Daniel: Producer
Bob Ducsay: Producer
James Jacks: Producer
Stephen Sommers: Producer
Chris Brigham: Exec. Producer
Lei Qin: Co-Producer
Doris Tse: Co-Producer
Josette Perrotta: Co-Producer
Marck Pitre: Assoc. Producer
Matthew Stuecken: Assoc. Producer
Xu Pengle: Assoc. Producer
Simon Duggan: Cinematographer
Kelly Matsumoto: Editor
Joel Negron: Editor
Randy Edelman: Musical Composer
Nigel Phelps: Production Designer
Isabelle Guay: Art Director
Daniel Carpentier: Set Decorator
Martine Kazemirchuk: Set Decorator
Philippe Lord: Set Decorator
Sanja Milkovic Hays: Costumes
Ronna Kress: Casting
Bruce Steinheimer: Special Effects
Matthew Butler: Special Effects
Mario Dumont: Special Effects
Joel Hynek: Special Effects
Derek Spears: Special Effects
Louis Marion: Sound - mixer
Tim Walston: Sound - design
Adrien Morot: Make Up - effects
Colleen Quinton: Make Up
Vic Armstrong: Stunts
Mark Southworth: Stunts


Full Review>>
It's not as good as the 1999's enjoyable THE MUMMY or even the lesser 2001 sequel, THE MUMMY RETURNS: The formula is wearing thin, the humor has grown a little too corny and those yeti make SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED look state of the art. But this third entry in the popular MUMMY series -- not counting the 2002 spin-off THE SCORPION KING -- is still passable popcorn fare, even if you'll barely taste it before swallowing.

England, 1946. Thirteen years have passed since Rick "Ricochet" O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife, Evelyn (Maria Bello, filling in for an AWOL Rachel Weisz), last sent Egyptian mummy Imhotep back to the afterlife, and they're now enjoying a life of quiet retirement in their sprawling Oxfordshire estate. Perhaps things are a little too quiet: While a bored Rick tries his hand a fly-fishing as a way of passing the time, Evelyn, who has found a new career for herself writing pulpy, supernatural adventure novels ("The Mummy" is one, "The Mummy Returns" another), stares at a blank page of typewriter paper, feeling bereft of adventure and inspiration. This spell of conjugal boredom is broken when the O'Connell's receives a visit from a Foreign Office minster who begs them to perform one final duty for the Crown: As a gesture of good will toward China, which is currently undergoing tremendous internal upheaval, the British government would like to return the fabled Eye of Shangri-la, a gold encrusted jewel that is said to point they way toward the spring eternal life. Rick and Evelyn agree to courier the stone to Shanghai, unaware that their now-grown son Alex (Luke Ford), whom they think is away at university, is already in China: Unbeknownst to his parents, Alex has been searching for the tomb of the Emperor Han (played in the lengthy prologue by Jet Li), the merciless tyrant who united the warring kingdoms of China under his iron-fisted rule. After conquering his rivals, enslaving their people and literally working them to death building the Great Wall, Han sought the one thing no man on earth had ever been able to achieve -- immortality -- and he charged his trusty aide, General Ming (Russell Wong), to seek out the witch Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) whom Han believed held the secret to eternal life. When the jealous emperor had Ming executed for consorting with the sorceress he planned to make empress, Zi Juan threw a curse on Han and his army, turning them all into terracotta figures. Not long after uncovering Han's sarcophagus, Alex realizes has been used as a pawn by the ambitious General Yang (Anthony Wong), who has evil plans for China: Like Emperor Han before him, he dreams of unifying the various factions that are currently vying for power, and plans on releasing Han and his army from Zi Juan's spell so they can do the dirty work for him. Foolish mortal!

There's nothing inherently wrong with formula: The whole pulp tradition on which movies like THE MUMMY and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK are based depends on age-old, easily identifiable archetypes whose fates are a given from the get-go. But if the story's well told, all the foregone conclusions really shouldn't matter, and therein lies the difference between genre expectations and dull predictability. THE DRAGON EMPEROR walks a fine line between the two. The screenplay by Smallville creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, who together also wrote SHANGHAI NOON and SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, front-loads a few good ideas, but falters on the execution: There are so few surprises that one not only begins anticipating the next scene, but looking forward to the ending. --Ken Fox

Posted in Label: Movie Diposting oleh Alexander Rahardjo