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Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
Universal Pictures

Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 31 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
3.9 out of 10
based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 78 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for adventure action and violence

Starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Wong, Luke Ford, and Isabella Leong

Explorer Rick O'Connell is back to combat the resurrected Han Emperor in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex, wife Evelyn and her brother, Jonathan. And this time, the O'Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service. (Universal Pictures)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Adventure  |  Fantasy  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Alfred Gough
Miles Millar
 
DIRECTED BY: Rob Cohen  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: December 16, 2008 
Theatrical: August 1, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Germany | Canada | USA 
LANGUAGE(S): English | Mandarin 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Now why did I like this movie? It was just plain dumb fun, is why. It is absurd and preposterous, and proud of it.
Read Full Review
67
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Dragon Emperor succeeds largely through sheer excess: It's doubtful that any idea was thrown out for being too implausible.
Read Full Review
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Anyone in the market for an overblown and totally mindless adventure-comedy will certainly get his money's worth.
Read Full Review
50
Time Richard Corliss
This Mummy movie is really two movies: a good adventure epic, with all the Chinese people, and a wan one, with O'Connells and the other the Westerners.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Ken Fox
Still passable popcorn fare, even if you'll barely taste it before swallowing.
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50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
It's kind of fun but the twists and turns are all too familiar.
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50
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
After an hour of inert exposition, a race through Shanghai gooses the movie alive. Then it plunges back into torpor.
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50
New York Post Kyle Smith
When I go to a Mummy movie, I don't want ninjas and yetis and men turned to stone. I want embalmed corpses and hieroglyphics. I want pharaoh. I want pyramids and sphinxes and Ace bandages. Did "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" take place on the Nile?
Read Full Review
50
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
The movie bogs down in tiresome good guys vs. bad guys action cliches.
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42
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
It's like an Indiana Jones movie without rhythm, wit or personality, just a desperate, headlong pace.
Read Full Review
42
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
There is one bit of good news. For all you abominable snowman fans out there, "The Mummy" is filled with yetis. And, boy, are they ever angry.
Read Full Review
40
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Boredom is the very basis of this sequel, at least at the beginning.
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40
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though the new film has some good things, it does not have enough of them to make the third time the charm.
Read Full Review
40
Empire Staff (Not credited)
Competent, but so utterly bereft of any memorable moments that it becomes a bit of a bore. Perhaps it's time for a reboot – guy wrapped in bandages, shuffling around a pyramid, scaring people. You never know, it might just work.
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38
Boston Globe Ty Burr
Despite exotic locations, epic cinematography, and much spectacular crash and bang, this "Mummy" feels like a threadbare toss-off.
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38
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Feels perfunctory and obligatory and, despite the return of several familiar characters, is more like an afterthought than an organic third piece of a trilogy puzzle.
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38
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The film has one objective: to smack its audience in the face with fleeting, competing wows, over and over.
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33
Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Shrill, unfunny third installment.
Read Full Review
30
Village Voice Vadim Rizov
Strange how dreary it all is, and how tired Fraser seems.
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30
Film Threat Felix Vasques Jr.
It's a damn shame when the dreaded third leg in the franchise feels like a pale imitation of an already pale imitator.
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30
Washington Post Jane Horwitz
Tiresome and messy.
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30
The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Too much of the proceedings are silly rather than horrifying, with the nadir being the appearance of some particularly athletic Yetis who briefly pitch in to lend a hand.
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30
The New York Times Stephen Holden
The kindest thing to be said for this frantic, cluttered mess of cheesy computer-generated action-adventure clichés is that at least you can see how the estimated $175 million budget was spent.
Read Full Review
30
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
For a movie about the undead, this lacks any supernatural chills, and by the time its obligatory final showdown arrives, it seems as hollow as the terra cotta soldiers brought to life by CGI.
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25
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The new Mummy is, how can I put it? Just freakin' awful.
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25
USA Today Mike Clark
Remarkably, the plot has much in common with "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," yet that bundle of fun has enough vision to make even its Barry Manilow interlude seem appropriate.
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25
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
As for Fraser, his clumsy humanity is endearing, but by now, assuming he has invested wisely, he should have enough money saved so as to not have to waste his talent anymore.
Read Full Review
25
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
I'm afraid it just stinks.
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25
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Tomb is the kind of movie you sit through dreading the expository scenes, because the acting is so bad and the dialogue so pointedly written to make sure the little ones in the audience can keep up with the plot.
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20
Variety Todd McCarthy
Reheating the ingredients can't disguise how stale they are, as setpiece after setpiece strains to whip up excitement, only to fall flat while reminding of previous sequences that did such things ever so much better.
Read Full Review
20
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The best news about this clangorous clunker is that it may well have vanquished the Mummy franchise.
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20
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
It's impossible to tell what's going on at any given moment in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; it's even harder to care about being able to tell.
Read Full Review
11
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Little more than a cluttered, noisy, and unsatisfying thrill ride to nowhere.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 3.9 (out of 10) based on 78 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob R. gave it a0:
One of the worst movies i have ever seen, i literally fell asleep watching it. A huge waste of time and money.

R. Lopez gave it a9:
Truly the best in the series!! The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is an amazing action/adventure film that will make you forget you ever saw the first two. This time the O'Connell's unearth the ruthless Dragon Emperor. This new mummy epic will take you for the ancient catacombs of china to the frigid Himalayas, this movie will keep you laughing and your heart pounding trough the whole movie. It's an amazing film that you can watch over and over again and love every minute of this amazing adventure film. I very highly recommend this movie.

Jonny D. gave it a3:
Besides the special effects the movie sucked... Horrible they really tried to do too much in this movie... love, comedy, action, drama, and oh did I mention love? You tried to kill me and I love you. (schoffs) too much English for people that lived in China for 2000 years.

Jay H. gave it a5:
Granted it is not a great movie, but it is well produced with good special effects. It does entertain but it also tends to drag a bit too much and seemed longer than its hour and 52 minute length.

Robert gave it a0:
I couldn't believe they went ahead with the same character but with no Rachel Wiesz. Honestly getting someone to try to act like Rachel was a disgusting choice.Would have been better off just killing the character off and start over. That was the most disappointing move ever, and thats saying something considering I expected it to be utter crap. It was worse than that!!!

Jeff C. gave it an8:
Much better than I expected based on the ratings. Incredible action and special effects, with good comedy, as proved by laughs in the theater. Could have been better, but a good film overall.

Harry L. gave it a0:
Easily the worst movie i have ever layed eyes on, i am a big film nerd, and this was nothing compared the the others, boring story line, no mummys in the actually movie, jet li sold out once again, and yeti's ragons, and giant dogs, should not be in a movie based around Egypt, oh wait it wasn't, please i urge nobody else watch this travesty of a movie

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