Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell
Jet Li as Emperor Han
Maria Bello as Evelyn O’Connell
John Hannah as Jonathan Carnahan
Michelle Yeoh as Zi Juan
Luke Ford as Alex O’Connell
Isabella Leong as Lin
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as General Yang
Russell Wong as Ming Guo
Liam Cunningham as Mad Dog Maguire
David Calder as Roger Wilson
Jessey Meng as Choi
Special Features:
Disc 1 Features:
-Widescreen Film Presentation
-Deleted and Extended Scenes
-Feature Commentary with Director Rob Cohen
Disc 2 Features:
-The Making of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
-From City to Desert
-Legacy of the Terra Cotta
-A Call to Action: The Casting Process
-Preparing for Battle with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li
-Jet Li: Crafting the Emperor Mummy
-Creating New and Supernatural Worlds
-Digital Copy of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.40:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Language Tracks
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the official DVD description:
“Brendan Fraser and Jet Li star in the action-packed adventure ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’! When a 2,000-year-old curse is broken, a ruthless dragon emperor (Li) comes back to life with a diabolical plan to enslave the world. Mankind’s only hope against him and his legions of undead warriors lies with the courageous O’Connell family, who chase him from the dangerous catacombs of China, to the icy Himalayas and beyond. Featuring intense battle sequences, breathtaking visual effects and extraordinary creatures, it’s a thrilling journey.”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” is rated PG-13 for adventure action and violence.
Mini-Review:
There was a lot that was done right in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” They wisely shifted the location from Egypt to China. The Chinese mummy and the legend of the terra cotta soldiers was the perfect subject matter for this film. They offer up a fantastic bit of history, a cool legend, and a beautiful backdrop for the story. Any time you show fighter planes blasting away supernatural Chinese soldiers, I’m there. The film also could have suffered from losing Rachel Weisz as Eve, but Maria Bello came in and ended up doing a great job. And as a big fan of Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li, their casting was a wise decision. From production design to casting, “”The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” was well poised to make a good sequel.
However, this sequel has a lot of fatal flaws in it. There are quite a few hokey moments that simply don’t work. For example, a couple of the Yeti monsters do a field goal hand sign when they fling a bad guy. A lot of the action is poorly choreographed, too. This is particularly the case in the opening chariot chase where a number of improbable things happen (yes, even in a movie with a resurrected mummy). And Jet Li is barely in the movie. Most of the time he’s substituted by a CG terra cotta soldier. Anyone watching this for Jet Li will be disappointed.
If you don’t mind a mindless action movie with some cool effects, then “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” will satisfy you. If you’re looking for a better script and more realistic action, then you’re out of luck here.
There is a second disc containing all the bonus features. There are a lot of in-depth ‘making of’ featurettes. They focus on the elaborate set building, shooting in China, the casting, and the stunts. Another set of featurettes focus on the special effects. There aren’t any real cast interviews. The deleted scenes don’t contain anything particularly noteworthy. Just some minor stuff with Alex and Jonathan and one discarded gag with a grenade in the final battle. It’s all fairly standard stuff.
