Remarks Concerning The Mummy III

Last night, I watched The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for the first time. It was definitely an enjoyable movie to see, but there seems to be a drastic decline in the quality of the Mummy movies. The original The Mummy had an excellent storyline, an element of horror, and was set in Egypt. It had a dark and mysterious feel to it. The Mummy Returns was a good movie as well, although taking more of an action-adventure flavor. This flavor has repeated but has unfortunately become distasteful in the third installment of the series.
The movie begins with probably the most commonplace introduction possible. Telling of a warrior conquering the known world and then becoming cursed is an introductory sequence already used in the series, and using it again simply makes the film seem repetitive. The focus then switches to the retired hero of the previous films, portraying him as finished with his adventures. Unfortunately, necessary character development is lacking. A different actress portrays the heroine of the previous films, disconnecting the series by disallowing the audience to easily picture the recurring characters in their minds. And before this major change in casting can be adjusted to, the focus switches again to the O'Connells' son, who was only a boy in The Mummy Returns. This transition is made with absolutely no character development, showing him immediately opening the Emperor's tomb and fighting a female ninja. He immediately recognizes this enemy the next time he sees her, but they suddenly join forces against the general trying to summon the Emperor. For a story portraying retired heroes and starring a different cast than the prequel, the plot seems rushed to the action, with nothing spectacular. The characters are simply created and then thrust into the plot.
The plot of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is also quite below average. The summoning of yetis to defeat the Chinese commandos is obviously an enormous deus ex machina. The Emperor's general is thrown down two flights of stairs by a yeti and is later crushed by an avalanche, yet miraculously survives without breaking a single bone. The final battle lacks the climatic tension one would expect it to have. The terracotta army intends to become invincible by reaching the Great Wall, but they never even come near it. The army of undead holds them off easily, and most of the Emperor's remaining forces are easily broken into pieces by bullets. Jet Li's character is the only villain in the entire movie who ever seems to pose a real danger. The general's miraculous powers of survival return at the end, when he survives a direct hit to his motorcycle from a bomb, and must be crushed and juiced between two turning wheels to be killed off. Essentially, the plot exists as an excuse to show overdone action sequences.
The third Mummy does not measure up at all to its prequels, and is basically a series of fights that the heroes never come close to losing. There is no horror at all as there was in the first movie, and the final battle does not have the desperate feel of the battles in The Mummy Returns. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is unfortunately somewhat of a B-movie action flick, despite its great potential.