Comic Related - Life in Four Colors

Life In Four Colors: Movie Review
Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

A (Kind of) Comic Related Film?

I went and saw the third (or fourth if you count the Scorpion King prequel) installment of the Mummy today and although I’m sure it’s not likely to break any box office records anytime soon, I thought it was a very enjoyable film and achieved what it set out to do which was…..

Wait a minute…I thought I heard somebody say something like…..”Hey buddy, The Mummy ain’t no comic book movie so what are you doing reviewing the film here on the Comic Related website?”

Okay……I’m sure that question is on the tip of your tongue as well. Here’s my response. Ever play that game….the Five Degrees of Kevin Bacon? You know the one…when you pick any actor at random and try to associate him with a movie that also had Kevin Bacon in it within five steps. Don’t lie. I know you played it. Everybody has. Anyway I’ve got five Comic Related facts and or opinions that will make you a believer that Mummy 3 is a Comic Related film…..some what.

Here we go……….

#1- Rachel Weisz, who had previously played the role of Evy O’Connell in the Mummy and the Mummy Returns (as well as the film adaptation of the Constantine ….which no body can deny was an “official comic book film”…see how this is gonna work?)…dropped out of this film due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of Sin City 2. (that’s just the beginning it gets better.)

#2- Brendan Frasier, who reprises his role as Rick “Ricochet” O’Connell, is starring in two different films this year (Journey to the Center of the Earth being the second)…something very common with a long list of actors who have done the same. Most of which include at least one comic book film and in some cases…two. Liv Tyler (The Strangers and the Incredible Hulk), Samuel L. Jackson (Jumper and The Spirit….set for a December release…and if you want to get technical…Iron Man), speaking of technical and Iron Man….Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man and the soon to be released…Tropic Thunder), and Morgan Freeman (Dark Knight AND Wanted).

#3-Actress Maria Bello (who replaces Weisz as Evy)….has appeared in the film adaptation of the graphic novel A History of Violence with Viggo Mortensen. The graphic novel was written by the same guy that created Judge Dredd. If that’s not enough Maria still has quite a bit of Comic Related material on her acting resume. She appeared in Thank You For Smoking, a movie that also starred Aaron (Harvey Dent/Two-Face) Eckhart…as well as Coyote Ugly. What does Coyote Ugly have to do with comics? Well it had portions of the script doctored up by none other than sometimes comic writer and full time fanboy Kevin Smith…and Amazing Spider-Man # 129..the first appearance of the Punisher….is also featured in the film.

#4-This Mummy film was written by two guys with some serious Comic Related clout. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Writers of Spider-Man 2, and creators and (until recently) writers of the Smallville television series….with their departure comic writer Geoff Johns will be writing a few episodes of Smallville this season.

#5-Luke Ford, the actor who plays the now adult son of Rick and Evy O’Connell….Alex O’Connell….wouldn’t make a half bad….(dare I say it)…Captain America. There you go. I have officially tossed his name in the ring.

And now that we have now proved…without a doubt that this film does have it’s fair share of comic book based roots….let’s continue on with the review.

Feeling in the mood to catch a movie Saturday afternoon, but not wanting to see Dark Knight (for the fourth time) the latest installment of the Mummy films hit the spot with the usual mixed bag of action, adventure, romance and comedy. The one thing that was missing was of course Evy….or the Rachel Weisz version of Evy. I’m not going to take anything away from Maria Bello’s performance in the role of Mrs. O’Connell. She did a great job and was a pleasant surprise because I didn’t even know she was associated with this film. I didn’t even recognize for the most part of the movie due to the fact that she dyed her hair for the role. (this is the second time this summer something like this has happened…the first time being Charlize Theron’s role in Hancock). Maria is one of my favorite actresses in Hollywoodland….with great films like A History of Violence, The Secret Window (with possible Riddler Johnny Depp…also in Sin City 2), and Payback with Mel Gibson all of which on my d.v.d shelf..

But I have to admit the changing of this role did bother me more than a little. I wished Rachel Weisz was in all three films…or Maria Bello was originally cast as Evy years ago and she appeared in all three films….I think the interaction between her and Frasier was superb…but the action scenes with her not quite as good as previous action scenes with Weisz. I do think Maria came off as a better mother figure than Rachel would have. Six of one and half a dozen of the other as my very wise grandmother was fond of saying.

Jet Li as the main villain of the film was incredible. He nailed it, finally getting to act a little more and not just rely on his martial art skills. In my opinion his best film (although I will always have a soft spot for Romeo Must Die…and although I own a copy of it….I haven’t watched Unleashed yet. Don’t ask me why.) I loved the back story of the Dragon Emperor which takes up the first half hour or so of the film. Li should play bad guys more often.

Luke Ford is another new addition to the Mummy cast who plays Alex O’Connell…the son to Brendan Frasier’s father…who mirrors the old man in several ways while trying to make his own path.

The movie sits well in the Mummy films and I liked it better than The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King…but not as well as the first Mummy movie. Loved the Yetis (and the sneaky little field goal scene…hilarious)….and the Dragon sequences were pretty cool too.

There were two scenes I didn’t like…two characters survived an explosion that would have certainly killed them…only to die in a very unnecessary fight scene a few minutes later and there was a scene when an ancient spell was spoken in English and I felt it should have been in Chinese with English subtitles like the rest of the Chinese dialogue.

The only other thing I didn’t like…the Spirit trailer. Yuck. Maybe the first ever comic book movie I will refuse to see.

If you don’t want to call Mummy 3 a comic book or super hero film …that’s alright. Despite my best efforts to prove otherwise it’s really not, but at the same time…out of the few other non-comic book themed films I’ve went to see this year including The Happening (which could have also been called …What’s Happening?) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls….this was my favorite. Once again…no Dark Knight but worth the price of admission …so check it out if you get the chance.

Until next time…see you in the Funny Papers.