Mummy 3: Unoriginal, uninspiring and completely pointlessI was pretty adamant to see this after hearing that it got almost universally slated but i'm afraid the reviews are true- the film is pretty goddamn awful.
Now, I love the first two films of the trilogy, and enjoy them for what they are: pure nonsense/ no brainer adventure movies with great dialogue, lovable characters, fun action scenes and inventive set pieces. However, this film is unabashedly focussing on those selling points, resulting in an empty product.
The plot is the epitome of cliché, the characters are all stereotypes and the dialogue and comedy it tries to do is dire and cringe worthy. Not that the previous Mummy films were any different, it's the same old thing here except this time it's half assed and rushed, so much so that this film comes off as a sort of Mummy "best of" clip show as everything the film does we have all seen before, albeit done a hell of a lot better. In fact this film is nigh on identical to The Mummy Returns, just replace The Rock with Jet Li, shorten the running time and get rid of everything that made the originals fun and cool and there you have it. Rob Cohen takes over the director's chair over Stephen Sommers and though i think Sommers is a hack, i wish he came back to do this one to finish his films off as a trilogy as there's a definite charm in his over-excessiveness and uber-CGI prostitution use that's missing. Not to say that there is none of that in here as there is, it just felt rather empty, that's all.
Brendan Fraser is back but it seems he's only there for the paycheck, he puts no effort into his character whatsoever and just runs with it. Mario Bello now takes over from the sublime Rachel Wiez and although i have nothing against her, her acting just plain sucked in this film- forced and pointless. Her English accent was at times terrible but it was the dialogue she was given that worked totally against her. Though everyone's dialogue was pretty damn pathetic to be honest. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh was of course the only good things about the movie, Li is wicked as the evil Mummy emperor (though he is a CGI effect for the majority of the film) and Yeoh, whilst cliché to the max, still holds amazing screen presence to the point that i don't care what she does or she says- as long as she's on screen i'm happy to bask in her awesomeness. Newcomer Isabella Leong is sweet in her ultimately clichéd role but she does hold some talent. John Hannah reprises his role but he's there for nothing but "comic" relief (did i mention this film has none?) and one only has to see his face to understand that even he doesn't know why he is in the film. Rachel Wiez turned the role down after seeing the script and one can instantly see why just 10 minutes into the film. There is no character progression, no reason for anything and really no point to it all.
Action sequences are okay but again we have seen it all before in the previous movies- a chase through bustling streets, encounters with creatures of some sort and a massive undead army battling another massive undead Mummy army. CGI ranged from pretty decent to terrible, and creature designs were amateur at best. The music was awful and completely uninspired- no Alan Silvestri or Jerry Goldsmith returning to reprise the original theme; instead Randy Edeleman takes the lead and churns out an instantly forgettable score.
All in all a short rehash of The Mummy Returns minus everything that made it so much fun, the film is entertaining at times (some of the set pieces are nice) but mostly we have seen it all before. The only saving graces are Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and a couple of cool action scenes, otherwise nothing in here to run home about. A generally disappointing film which is unoriginal, uninspired and a monotonous chore to sit through and then, once finished, instantly forgettable. Shame really, the first two were great fun whilst this seems like a cheap homage of best of clips.
Not the worst film of the year by any means or one of the worst i have ever seen, it's just tired rubbish that really is rather pointless. I recommend a rental.
4/10
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