“The Mummy” films rate as one of the best conceived franchise concepts of the past decade and an idea that was long overdue. The Indian Jones films pioneered a genre few have really made a quality attempt to expand upon. I am still surprised by how likeable and charming the characters are in the 1999 release and while it has some issues, the sequel “The Mummy Returns” still captured a great deal of original’s charm and fanciful style. To say the series had characters and stars ideal for their roles was an understatement.
I really don’t rewatch movies very frequently but the Mummy films never seem to loose that shine, sadly the most recent installment breaks that feeling with a determination one almost has to admire.
The current film is set in 1946 and the O’Connell couple is suffering from a bland existence. We learn they did espionage work during WWII and are trying to settle in to the life of an average couple and failing miserably at the attempt. Evie has written a popular romantic novel about mummies and enthusiastic female fans are after her to write a sequel while Rick is trying a hobby that “doesn’t involve guns”. This aspect of the film is well played as we see two people who lived a life of discovery and adventure trying to shoehorn themselves in to roles that are simply no longer viable. When you save the world and face down otherworldly danger, how does one take an interest in fly fishing? The answer is, you don’t. The opening aspect of the film gives you a glimmer of hope.
This flicker is almost immediately dashed by Maria Bello, probably the weakest link in the entire film. Rachael Weisz played a fairly complex character whereas Maria Bello plays a dispassionate substitute. She doesn’t blend well with Fraiser’s character and at times you can almost see it on their faces. Fraiser trys, but its obvious the motivation present in the first two films is gone. This is probably the most telling flaw. I’ve always enjoyed Fraiser as an actor, he has an energy to his roles, even poor ones where he seems to give that extra effort to make the character come to life. The Rick O’Connell in Tomb seems tired, probably more so from his stuffy replacement wife. Evie is as essential to the formula as Rick is. Can anyone name a celebrated film or musical duo that didn’t suck after half the of the duo disappears? Didn’t think so. This alone should have been a reason to cancel the project in my mind.
Bello is simply distracting and the mind drifts and ponders what the film might have been like if Weisz was on screen. She distracts on two different levels.
The film concentrates more on setting and CGI than individual action scenes and Fraiser’s classic fights present in the first two films are lost in a flurry of scenes where Yeti are engaged in fisticuffs while bullets fly. Fraiser is later mortally wounded in a disturbingly direct reference to “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade” and must be saved before he can continue the fight
The biggest problem with the film is pacing, we just don’t get to see much of any particular character to allow them to engage us. Much of the film relies on the fact we know and like Fraiser, but only his brother-in-law Johnathan makes a return from the original cast. We are introduced to the O’Connell’s rather predictable and at times, unpleasant adult son Alex who runs the range of typical wooden character traits from disdain for his father to cheap sentimentality followed by awkward emotional interest in his female companion. Alex is a typical movie stereotype and we’ve seen far too many stereotypes acted far better than this.
For much of the film I wondered why we have been straddled with this jerk and his attempts to be witty or roguish doesn’t do anything to make him any more likeable. Overall Alex feels entirely unnecessary and as the film continues you realize he is unnecessary in every way.
Jet Li is another perplexing addition, a man brought in for his considerable martial arts prowess and acting credentials, only to have neither used to any effect in the film. Jet Li is a place holder, much like Brendan Fraiser to add credibility to a film that sorely lacks it.
The entire effort seems in a rush to get from scene to scene, like a collection of bright ideas and brainstorming sessions with little discussion given to how to make all of these events and themes relate. This grows frustrating because we see potential in each scene, but the feeling conveyed is on that the director didn’t care, we aren’t allowed to get attached either through character development of well written dialogue. Most characters speak in lazy cliches and catch phrases before being whisked away to the latest CGI local
“Unnecessary” is the best singular way to describe Tomb, the film is a collection of well made scenes, poor writing and characters the film seems to busy to bother with, characters we’ve come to know and love from the first films are used as mere puppets to line someone’s pockets. This is the reason for sequels that many directors seem to forget, we want to see Rick and Evie deal with mummies, not CGI effects with the characters as a cheap backdrop. There is no mythos left to tap, no charm or attachment to the previous titles to lend it a sense of continuity. The Tomb of the Dragon emperor simply ends the film series, nothing more. It gives us nothing, sews up no loose ends, it doesn’t take the characters to new levels or relates them further or shows us where they are headed as we part ways. The film is a sad way to see the series end because it walks away from us with out so much as a a goodbye.
