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What
a long strange trip to America it’s been for Li Lianjie. The god of
high-speed cinematic Wuxia known as Jet Li has made his fortunes in the
West in fits and starts; in senseless sci-fi drudge like The One, he’s
played to the choir in ethnic opuses like Romeo Must Die, and he’s even
indulged in artsy euro-slickness with Kiss of the Dragon and Danny the
Dog (A.K.A.
Unleashed).
After those diversions, Li’s return to his Hong Kong stomping grounds in
Fearless brought back his Shaolin Temple cred, but still the US market
didn’t truly regard Li as the bankable star he is in so many other parts
of the world until he finally crossed paths with another Hong Kong
legend who was also firmly on the B-tier of fame in this country. The
Forbidden Kingdom gave both Jackie Chan and Jet Li their first number
one movie in the U.S. and opened the eyes of Hollywood to the drawing
power of these martial arts superstars. This long overdue esteem by
Hollywood for Jet Li and his rabid ticket-buying fandom seems to have
been the only reason why the latest chapter in the seemingly unkillable
Mummy series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor made its way into
theatres as opposed to making a beeline for NetFlix.
However true it
may be, that last statement is probably harsher than my actual regard
for the picture. Silly, unnecessary and unabashedly ridiculous, Mummy 3
is still absurd, harmless fun. Aside from Jet Li, the film also features
two of the greatest stars of modern Hong Kong cinema, the brilliant
character actor, Anthony Wong and Michelle Yeoh, goddess of HK action
and all-around amazing babe. Director Rob Cohen has exhibited a healthy
reverence for Asian cinema going back to his Bruce Lee biopic, Dragon.
His casting of Li, Yeoh and Wong are testament to his respect. It is
interesting to watch Jet Li who we’re used to playing heroes and good
guys, sink his teeth into the avaricious, merciless Emperor. It’s pity
that the majority of Li’s scenes in the film are CGI versions of him in
various modes of decay as the mummified conqueror. When we do see Li in
the opening flashback, he seems to relish the chance to play evil and I
would have liked to have seen more. The fabulous Michelle Yeoh plays the
beguiling swordfighting sorceress whose beauty brings about the fall of
the Emperor’s kingdom. Cohen is wise enough to let us have a duel
between the former Twin Warriors costars that shows that neither Li nor
Yeoh has lost a step over time. Too bad for all that Cohen may know
about Asian action, he never learnt to pull the camera back during a
fight scene. Oy. There wasn’t nearly enough of the commanding Anthony
Wong as General Yang who intends to resuscitate the Emperor and place
him back on his throne, but I should be glad that someone has finally
brought one of the greatest actors in Asia to the US in a splashy
Hollywood film. True to Wong’s previous roles, he plays the ruthless
general while still embracing the inherent silliness and slapstick that
is such a major component to this series.
Brendan Frasier
exhibits his usual good-natured presence as allegedly retired
adventurer, Rick O’Connell, whilst doling out punches and firing a
variety of guns. The excellent Rachel Weisz chose to sit out the
festivities this go-round and her replacement, Maria Bello addresses the
switch jokingly in her opening scenes. While not as sparky and sweet as
Weisz, Bello compliments Frasier nicely as the fairer half of the still
ga-ga for each other O’Connells. Sadly, I can’t pour praise on the
youngest member of their clan. When we last saw young master Alex
O’Connell, the precocious, eight-year old was outwitting devious
Egyptian mummies and their acolytes. Now almost overgrown, Alex has
followed in his parents’ footsteps, invading the resting places of
ancient potentates, digging around Asia for his treasures, managing to
excavate the one Chinese Emperor able to come back to life and continue
the reign of terror he left off two thousand years ago. Remembering that
the O’Connells lived in a palatial English manor and the child version
of Alex spoke with in clear, crisp British tones, I couldn’t fathom why
this Alex spoke with an accent that traveled from the American
southwest, to Boston and even to Brooklyn once or twice. Not expecting
Streep-level performances, Australian Luke Ford as the lusty, rebellious
O’Connell boy, stands out as amateurish and noticeably awful in a film
that’s actor-proof. Additionally, the fact that Alex’s dad looks more
like an older frat brother than his father was more evidence of
slapdashery. I found myself missing Oded Fehr and wished they’d have
found an excuse to have him protect the Chinese desert instead of the
Egyptian one. Had Fehr been cast I wonder if he’d have looked as bored
as John Hannah, reprising the greedy, bumbling brother-in-law, Jonathan,
who clearly needs a new gig. Then there are the Yetis.
The inevitable
CGI that permeates every Mummy film is a spotty affair. Our evil Emperor
is a crumble-prone shape-shifter who becomes a three-headed dragon (Ghidorah?),
then some kind of furry, spiky-headed giant Foo dog. Way up on the silly
register is the inclusion of abominable snowmen and when I first saw the
creatures that resemble the offspring of Chewbacca and a snow leopard, I
groaned. However, watching them in action, leaping about like fluffy
ninjas, I’d say they were technically an improvement over, say, the
Scorpion King creature from the second film. The big avalanche sequence
was pretty neat-looking. However, if it’s the Mummy there must be
legions of the undead to back up the bad guy, so instead of the Egyptian
guards, we have an homage to Chinese history that introduces Western
audiences to the Terracotta Army. Similar to the mummified Egyptian
soldiers, the Terracotta Army were statues of the warriors of the first
Emperor of China meant to provide him with a standing army he could rule
in the next life. The CGI warriors move clumsily and break apart easily
as one might reckon from ceramic people. On the opposing side there is
an band of zombies raised by the sorceress, who are remarkably collected
for having been buried in a wall for two thousand years. The zombies are
a downgrade from their Egyptian counterparts in the previous films and
look pretty awful.
The Mummy: Tomb
of the Dragon Emperor wins no awards (-
except perhaps a Razzie),
but the kiddies should be entertained and there is fun for the grownups
in a preposterous 1940’s cliffhanger way. I would have seen it for the
casting of Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Wong, but as far the
O’Connells’ escapades go; I predict this is the last adventure before
the journey straight to DVD.
~ Mighty
Ganesha
July 30th,
2008
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Photos
(Courtesy of Universal Pictures)
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