The “Mummy” franchise: it’s time to wrap it up

In The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Brendan Fraser and company must stop the reconstitution of a 2,000-year-old mummified emperor and his army before they lay waste to the modern world. It’s a formidable task, yes, but nothing compared to the naming of an elementary school.

     The Mummy-battling O'Connell family is back in this embarrassment to the franchise which began so promising in 1999 with arguably the best of all of the Mummy incarnations.
     In this 3rd sequel, the location shifts to China, but this is no Crouching Scarab, Hidden Imhotep. The story is contrived and O'Connell, indigenous to the desert, is as out of place in a parka as this “Mummy” is out of his traditional gauze-couture.
     But those are the least of the film’s problems. It really jumps the shark with the appearance of the “helper Yeti” who are reminiscent of the abominable snowman that puts the star on the Christmas tree in the Rankin/Bass classic Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
     What else can be said except “when can we expect a 5th film?” And just in case one’s not already in pre-production, here’s a suggestion for the plot: Universal wants to raise the characters for yet another hackneyed sequel but the film critics must stop them before they do.

1 Honk
(This “Mummy” gets a bum wrap)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for adventure action and violence.

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