I am a big fan of the first two Mummy films. The second was a step down from the first, but both are great and I have seen them many times on dvd. I was very excited to see the latest in the series and made it to the theater on opening day. WOW, what a letdown. The casting was horrible for the "new" Evelyn and especially for the son. There was no chemistry between Rick and Evelyn. None.

The attempts at humor were so unfunny that it was painful. "The yakk yacked". The action was predictable and poorly executed. The abominable snowmen were bad beyond belief.

I almost walked out of the theater after about 45 minutes, but I stuck it out for some sadistic reason.

I highly recommend that you don't waste your time watching this junk, but if you must see it PLEASE rent it before you buy it.

After 7-years The Mummy franchise returns, but with a few changes; Stephen Sommers who wrote and directed the first 2 returns only as producer and half the cast is gone, but the character of Evelyn returns only played by Maria Bello rather than Rachel Weisz. Anyone that knows me pretty much knows that in general I'm not one for big Hollywood movies for the most part. Since the mid 90s Hollywood has really been putting out some lousy flicks. Prior to that I Hollywood movies were fairly good overall, but I have to admit I really enjoyed The Mummy franchise. The first two were not great movies, but were highly entertaining.

But going into The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor my expectations were quite low. With new writers and a new director plus half the cast being gone I was hoping for something decent, but I didn't expect much, but Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was quite a surprise. While it's inferior to the previous two flicks in its own right it was enjoyable even with the flaws.

The script by Alfred Gough & Miles Miller was alright; it's never as amusing as the previous parts, but it does stay true to the franchise and mostly relies on the viewers knowing the characters. Overall the characters are just sort of there and they don't have the excellent character moments that had in the previous two, but like those movies the characters are still a lot of fun. The script could have used a touch up and it's pretty much your standard Hollywood action screenplay, but overall it serves its purpose.

I was never really much of a fan of director Rob Cohen, while he's done some decent movies personally I always find them slightly lacking and despite the flaws with The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor I'd say this is probably his best work thus far. While never as witty or creative as Stephen Sommers, Rob Cohen does get the job done on delivering a highly entertaining movie even with the flaws. The pacing was solid and there really are no slow moments and Cohen keeps the movie fun from the beginning to end.

I've liked Brendan Fraser ever since I saw Encino Man; what I like about him is he has this average everyday guy look rather than big Hollywood look and he's a lot better of an actor than he's given credit for. And once again Fraser is the man; I just love the character of Rick O'Connell and Fraser plays the part perfectly. This time around he doesn't have the great character moments like he did in the first two, but Fraser still makes the best out of it and delivers another solid performance and again is quite funny.

Maria Bello takes over the role of Evelyn O'Connell and does very well in the role. Personally I like Maria Bello more than Rachel Weisz, but I do think Rachel was a bit better as Evelyn, but Maria Bello is good enough and the movie doesn't suffer due to the re-casting of the role. John Hannah returns as Jonathan and this time around he seems to be here just for the sake of it. John Hannah stole the show in the first two and he almost does again, but he's just not given enough to do.

Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are welcome additions to the cast even if not used to their full potential. You have Li and Yeoh in a movie and they aren't allowed to really showcase their skills, which was a shame. They do have a brief fight scene that while a bit disappointing fans of these two will still surly enjoy it just due to the fact it's Li Vs Yeoh. But both are underused for sure they never really get to showcase their skills, but both are still excellent.

The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is getting a lot of poor reviews and I'm not exactly sure why. While the first two movies were extremely fun I wouldn't say they were these epic classic films. They were simply fun and while yes this movie isn't as good it still serves its purpose as mindless entertainment just like The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. Again while inferior The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor still serves its purpose as a fun flick.

As fun as the movie was the franchise is running out of steam; the biggest flaw with the movie was really due to the fact there was nothing that could really be added to the concept, but I do think this series might still have a little bit of life left in it. Despite the mostly negative reviews I enjoyed The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, while inferior to the first two its still a fun ride that is far better than the reviews out there. If you liked the first two odds are you`ll enjoy this flaws and all.

First off I love movies all kinds of movies. From oscar winning dramas to straght to dvd horror movies. I am also a big fan of the mummy series I have the mummy, the mummy returns, the mummy tomb of the dragon emperor and the scorpion king all on blu-ray. Picture and sound wise Tomb is the best of all of them. It has a beautiful higdef vido transfor and a equaly good 5.1 DTS HD MA audio track that really creates a good surrond sound field. There is also a good feature list with some highdef exclusive contant. So the 2 disc (1 bd 50 gig and a dvd) blu-ray is well put togather and worth the extra $.

On to the movie. When you go to see a movie like this its not for anything new its just to have a good time. Action comedy/romance films like this generly follow the same formula. Heros met vilian that seems undefitable and when things look the worst heros dig down trust in each other vilian is defited and heros fall in love and sail into sunset leving a opaning for another movie. so what really matters is the visuals and the action. On this Tomb delivers, there are quite a few really good action parts with some martial arts, Street fighting style and sword and gun fights. There are also some wondeful sets. This movie is definatly Effects over substance but so what? Sure there are plot holes and some bad acting but for this kind of film its really not that big of a deal Its true you konw where this movie is going LONG before it gets there but it sure is a fun ride.

Warning to those with older Receivers. This Blu-ray disk only has a DTS audio soundtrack in English. If you have a Receiver, like I do, that only decodes Dolby Digital 5.1, there is no audio output.

The rest of this review is for the clueless producers of this Blu-ray disk. Obviously they have learned nothing from the costly lost sales of the war with HD-DVD. People like me are not going to buy an expensive new Receiver just to play a particular movie on Blu-ray. Especially with six audio formats to cover and perhaps more to come! I will rent this movie on DVD and wait for the audio wars to end. Since Blu-ray has plenty of capacity, I do not see any reason why an English Dolby 5.1 soundtrack could not be included to ensure backwards compatibility. Particularly since Dolby 5.1 is already provided on this disk in other languages. From reading various blogs and reviews, I know I am not the only potential lost sale.

I'm a diehard fan of The Mummy, and even liked the oft-maligned The Mummy 2. I went into this movie having ignored the trailers and reviews and was incredibly excited about it. Much to my chagrin, it was not only the worst of the Mummy series, but also one of the worst movies I've seen in years.

Not only would I suggest avoiding buying this movie, I wouldn't even suggest renting it. If you're new to The Mummy series, stick with the first two movies.