The first two instalments of the movie "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" were known for its thrilling special effects, comic relief provided by Brendan Fraser and John Hannah and the very beautiful and talented Rachel Weisz. So the third instament started on a wrong note as Rachel Weisz opted out of it. Secondly, the focus moves from Egyptian mummies to Chinese mummies. Special effects to the fortune of the movie remained intact. This instalment, I guess was a little bit tiresome to make and to our distress was tiresome to watch as well.
Another thing which is not so good about this movie is the plot. It more or less like the first instalment only. Just the location has changed. The first movie had a good entertainment value which the story writer must have thought is bankable enough to rewrite in a different manner to make a film out of it!!!
Rick O'Connell and wife Evelyn (Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello - earlier played by Rachel Weisz) are enjoying a lazy and boring post retirement in some county of UK - Rick shooting fish more than catching them and Evelyn writing a Mummy book. They get all excited when they are ask to deliver the Eye of Shangri-La by the government to the Shanghai museum. When they go there, they are amused to find out that they are being fooled and their son Alex(Luke Ford) and uncle Jonathan (John Hannah) evolving the mystery of the tomb of the evil Chinese Emperor Han (Jet Li) who was cursed by the witch Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) in the flashback. Thanks to the eye of Shangri-La and the few remnants of the emperor's army, the emperor rises from the tomb and starts his journey again to attain immortality and then rule the world. But as usual, our hero Rick along with his wife, son, Jonathan, Zi Juan and her daughter and Alex's love interest Lin (Isabella Leong), trys to foil the emperor's plans. Whether he suceeds or not, one needs to find out on his own.
So there is nothing new in direction as the third take seems to be repetitive. Director Rob Cohen has perfected the genre of action thriller movies with films like "Stealth", "The Fast and the Furious" and "XXX". He continues where he left. Still, I feel the movie could have been more thrilling if more thrills, stunts and action scenes were provided on the platter. The background score works to a large extent for the movie with the action scenes taking the front seat. The rest of the technical crew needs to work hard for a better instalment of "The Mummy".
Cast - Brendan Fraser looks tired and needs to take a break and work in some serious cinema without sequels and prequels. He looks the same as he was in the previous two encounters. Maria Bello is good but cannot be as good as Rachel Weisz. She is best when she pampers her son!!! Luke Ford does a good job of a guy who is not so happy with his relation with father Rick and confused about the relation with Lin. John Hannah tries hard to make you laugh. Michelle Yeoh cakewalks the role with her charm. Isabella is pretty and that's it!!
But the star of the show is definitely Jet Li and he suceeds in keeping you on th edge of the seat. For the first time, he must have done something which does not require him to perform Martial Arts for a long time. Though the short fight between him and Michelle Yeoh is the thing to watch out for!!! He is the saving grace of the film.
This Mummy has not made a great impact on me as a movie goer so I wish this mummy stays in the tomb for a long time!!!!
Rating - 2/5
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