Tomb of the dragon emperor: Best kept under wraps

The first two "Mummy" movies cleaned up worldwide, but the many fans of those films may be disappointed by this one.

The third film in the Mummy franchise is not a patch on the first two. The plot is convoluted and the twists and turn predictable.

In fact, except for some yetis, a three-headed dragon and several other demonic creatures thrown in to create cheap scares, there’s nothing new.

It’s 1946 and Rick O’ Connel (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn (Maria Bello) are living a quiet life. They miss the action of the past and are clearly unhappy. So, when they are asked to deliver a precious artefact to the Chinese government, they readily agree to go to China where, unknown to them, their 20-year-old son Alex (Luke Ford) has unearthed the lost tomb of the evil Emperor Han (Jet Li). The Dragon Emperor has been slumbering for centuries under the curse of sorceress Lin (Michelle Yeoh).

The Connels must stop him from awakening.

We have avalanches, fireworks, chariot chases, plane rides, sand and skeleton armies, sword and gunfights and what have you but they all seem meaningless as there is no real substance. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are wasted as they are poorly characterised.

Brendan Fraser is the only saving grace. I missed Rachel Weisz who played Evelyn in the earlier two Mummy films.

Director Rob Cohen (XXX and The Fast and The Furious) who takes the reins from series creator Stephen Sommers has packed in a lot of action in Mummy 3 but sadly it’s not enough.