Die Mumie: Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers

Silly popcorn, no more than that. What’s important is that it looks cool, right? (03.09.2008)

This is easy to predict and even easier to forget crap which at times is not even good enough for that one single use. Cohen is a purely action director, so it all comes down to overblown acrobatic escapades, which are ably followed by special effects, but their sterility knows no bounds. It lacks any ounce of perspective (and no, Liam Cunningham doesn't save it), and thus you're more likely to identify scenes stolen from elsewhere. I don't mind Maria Bello (I like her a lot as an actress), but as a replacement for Rachel Weisz, she was a total casting mistake. The family etudes are tired and the whole is desperately boring. (05.11.2010)

Jet Li has risen from the dead and decided to take over the world. Fortunately, Rick O'Connell and his family are here to stop him. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is hampered by poorly shot action sequences, and while there is always something going on screen, you rarely come across a genuinely entertaining moment in the barrage of mediocre visual effects and toe-curling dialogue. This wannabe adventure film that masquerades as ideal family entertainment is actually a prime example of wasted potential. (29.07.2008)

I really wasn’t asking too much from “I’ve even got a long way to go to become a routineer". All I wanted was a disposable harmless summer nonsense movie. But Cohen couldn’t even manage that. Instead, through his approach of “sort of humor, sort of screenplay, sort of blockbuster" he spreads an epidemic. The signs start to show somewhere around the tenth minute. First just in a few individuals. Then it spread quickly to the rest of the audience. Not even kids are immune. The first sign is massive yawning, the second nodding, the third is sleeping on the escalator when leaving the movie theater and the fourth is a disservice to Hollywood. After this, nobody can be surprised that so many people are allergic to it. I believe that if they organized a mass simultaneous projection of this movie around the planet, it would get into the Guinness Book of Records. For the largest number of people sleeping at one moment. There’s only one cure for this. Indy treatment. (03.08.2008)

The third part came like an uninvited poor relative whom you don't like even before they knock on the door. However, while everyone expectedly wanted to kick it out, I found a way to it. And this despite my suffering from the loss of Rachel Weisz and therefore the inevitable transformation of Evelyn into a character who is neither a writer nor an adventurer, just a mandatory maternal element. With the change of director, he also lost a class of more childish humor, but I am still a viewer who hears, admires Brendan Fraser's adventurous position in big-budget archaeological trips, and holds my breath during the prologue, autohonic, or avalanche. Although I was one of the worst prophets, I must now admit that I was surprisingly wrong. Shanghai and the Himalayas cannot replace Egypt and London, but still - thanks for my beloved series only dropping one class and not ending as deep as it could have under the hands of another team. 75% (07.12.2008)

Certainly effective, but more like an overpriced video game. If it weren’t for the solid cast and outstanding ending, it would have been a tragedy. Jet Li is criminally underused and I bet that he managed to film his part in three days max, but luckily he makes a good villain and so he manages to impress despite everything. And when I think back to the trailers, it looked so promising. Oh dear. (08.11.2008)

Eine flotte und unterhaltsame Fortsetzung, bei der die Umbesetzung von Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell den Charme des ersten Films nicht zunichte macht. Maria Bello ist ganz anders, aber immer noch eine sehr sympathische und passende Heldin, die ideal an der Seite von Brendan Fraser stehen kann. (07.02.2009)

Colorful crap from time to time plays on an ambitious and visual effects-loaded note of a wannabe, failed blockbuster. All the atmosphere of the previous parts is gone and the watchable mix of action, romance, and adventure has been replaced by computer-generated avalanches, werewolves, the Terracotta Army, and the boring clown Jet Li. Those who expect an epic sequel will be disappointed. The wiscracks don't work, there is no story, and technically the worst by a long shot. Rob Cohen did exactly what was expected, he messed it up nicely. (28.11.2008)

Pfui. Die Mumie liebe ich, Die Mumie kehrt zurück ist eine ausgezeichnete Fortsetzung. Aber das hier? Rob Cohen ist nicht Stephen Sommers. Maria Bello ist nicht Rachel Weisz. Jet Li ist nicht Arnold Vosloo. Brendan Fraser und John Hannah haben Die Mumie: Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers auch nicht besonders geholfen. Einige Szenen fand ich gut (die Anfangsszene, die Yetis und einen Teil der "Schlacht" am Ende), im Großen und Ganzen war ich aber sehr enttäuscht. Danke wenigstens für das sympathische Duo Michelle Yeoh und Isabella Leong. Wegen Cohen ist aus dem Film die ganze Verspieltheit verschwunden. Es blieb ein 112-minütiger einfallsloser Mischmasch. Ich hoffe, dass die Einbußen so groß waren, dass keiner mehr einen vierten Teil drehen wird. Nur Sommers, aber das glaube ich nicht.__PS: Edelmans gelungene Musik ist für diesen Film zu schade. (29.08.2009)

Das Grabmal des Drachenkaisers ist im Grunde genommen ein Abklatsch der beiden vorangegangenen Mumien-Filme, insbesondere des zweiten, und obwohl der Film erst 2008 in die Kinos kam, bietet er nicht gerade großartige Effekte (zum Glück sind sie besser als im zweiten Teil). Obwohl ich Maria Bello seit Coyote Ugly mag, habe ich die hervorragende Rachel Weisz vermisst. Brendan Fraser war zwar immer noch recht fit, aber dennoch glanzlos, ebenso wie Luke Ford als sein Sohn. Jet Li war nicht schlecht, John Hannah hat mich nicht beleidigt (seine "Interaktion" mit der Kuh war witzig), aber Michelle Yeoh war mir von allen Darstellern am sympathischsten. Doch die Anwesenheit seltsamer Yetis, das familiäre Füllwerk drumherum, die schleppend servierte Action und das schlaffe Drehbuch lassen den Film unweigerlich ins Mittelmaß abgleiten. (28.02.2021)

Unnecessarily long introduction, where the legend is revealed, around which it will revolve, is just a plagiarism of the first part and quite sufficiently shows how the rest of the movie will proceed. Boring and unnecessarily long. The film is visually quite interesting at times, but what's the point when the story is really not worth anything? This is not a nice return to old familiar characters. Furthermore, I really missed Rachel Weisz here. I mean, no offense to Maria Bello, but Rachel is my favorite. Well, simply an incredible copycat of previous parts, only now it's Asian... (01.04.2014)