the joy of low expectations

So I took advantage of the so-called matinee price and went to see "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor".

As stated, I went in with low expectations. All I wanted was an fx feast and a bit of kung-fu. In this sense, I went in expecting what I sought from "The Forbidden Kingdom". Instead of a Jackie Chan vs. Jet Li duel, I was looking for some cool Jet Li vs. Michelle Yeoh action mixed in with some of Brendan Frasier's usual comic-action.

That said, I got what I expected, more-or-less.

I'm torn about how bad the movie was. It wasn't good, strictly-speaking, but it wasn't terrible. It was more mediocre. In that sense, it's much like "the Mummy Returns" in that the story writing was weak and the characterizations were a bit scattered.

In "the Mummy Returns", they went a bit too far for the camp. They introduced a lot of potentially interesting background characters and did nothing with them, save to kill most of 'em off quickly.

In "the Dragon Emperor", they do the same butchering of history with the legend of the first Emperor of China (the Qing Emperor? I forget exactly who that was in "real life"). I have to say that Jet Li was kind of an awesome Emperor. As a fan of "Hero", in which his character tries to kill the first Emperor, I found the irony entertaining.

He was a cliche Eastern bad-guy, of course. Hollywood can't resist a chance to do that. Michelle Yeoh was cool as the mysterious sorceress character who serves as his enemy. Then again, I've always had a bit of a crush on that actress, so my opinion of "cool" is likely a bit tainted.

They were, of course, both under-utilized, but there you go.

Brendan Frasier was as great in the role of Rick O'Connell as always. While nobody can really step into Rachel Weisz's shoes (mmm... Rachel Weisz... another crush...), Maria Bello did an adequate job. I really didn't mind her performance at all.

The dude they picked to be the O'Connell's son Alex was a bit forgettable, but he wasn't bad. Same with the Chinese heroine/love-interest they cast in the movie. The younger actors were okay for their role.

I don't watch these kinds of movies (or, really, any kinds of movies) for the romantic plots. This movie drove home why. There was no chemistry between the two actors. Their interactions felt too contrived and forced. In that sense, this was much like "The Forbidden Kingdom" in that the interactions between the cliche Cocky-White-American-Guy and the cliche Chinese-Girl-Who-Can-Kick-Butt-but-then-becomes-a-Damsel-in-Distress were painful to watch.

The character of Jonathan, the smarmy brother of Evie, was the same as always but played a bit too much towards being comic relief. I found him a bit tiresome.

Visually, the movie was cool. The effects were nice. The battles were okay, if a bit disappointing. I got my Jet Li vs Michelle Yeoh swordfight, but it was disappointingly short.

In the end, I guess it wasn't horrible, but it was no "Dark Knight".