The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

In a summer of good superhero movies, this third chapter in the Mummy adventures seems out of place and a little too moronic. Brendan Fraser plays dad to Luke Ford, a guy who is only 12 years younger than him in real life. This problem is compounded by the fact that Fraser acts and looks younger than his age. Maria Bello, sporting a decent English accent, takes over Rachel Weisz’s role, and that’s just weird. The family battles an ancient emperor (Jet Li) brought back to life by some super diamond or whatever the hell it is. Lots of arrows fly; tons of bullets are fired; some abominable snowmen and dragons are thrown into the mix. The action is tiresome; the effects are lame; the performances are bad. Attempts at humor fall flat, and the likes of Li and Michelle Yeoh (as an immortal witch) are wasted. The Mummy movies have never been all that good, so this fits right in with the franchise.