The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

"A new evil awakens."

2008 1h 52m EN

😐

5.5

MID

🥫

13%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.2

IMDB

★5.5TMDB · 4,955🥫13%Rotten Tomatoes●31Metacritic★5.2IMDB · 179,224

AdventureActionFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Archaeologist Rick O'Connell travels to China, pitting him against an emperor from the 2,000-year-old Han dynasty who's returned from the dead to pursue a quest for world domination. This time, O'Connell enlists the help of his wife and son to quash the so-called 'Dragon Emperor' and his abuse of supernatural power.

“A new evil awakens.”

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Cast

Brendan Fraser
Rick O'Connell
Maria Bello
Evelyn O'Connell
John Hannah
Jonathan Carnahan
Luke Ford
Alex O'Connell
Isabella Leong Lok-Sze
Lin
Jet Li
Han
Michelle Yeoh
Zi Yuan
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Yang

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rob Cohen
Writers: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Languages: English, Mandarin, Sanskrit
Countries: United States of America, China, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$145M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Mandarin, Sanskrit.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United States of America, China, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Mummy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rob Cohen, shot by Simon Duggan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Negron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rob Cohen directs. Simon Duggan behind the camera. Randy Edelman scores. Joel Negron cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, China, Germany. Dialogue in English, Mandarin, Sanskrit.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$145M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Mandarin, Sanskrit.
4International production across 3 countries: United States of America, China, Germany.
5Part of the "The Mummy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Rob Cohen, shot by Simon Duggan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Randy Edelman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Joel Negron shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello and John Hannah carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A new evil awakens.".
11IMDB entry: tt0859163 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 12 themes, including "china", "sword", "pyramid", "mummy".
13Released under 34 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Simon Duggan
Original score: Randy Edelman
Editing: Joel Negron
Production design: Nigel Phelps
Costume design: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Makeup / hair: Colleen Quinton
VFX supervisor: Gregory D. Liegey
Sound: Gary Summers
Stunt coordinator: Vic Armstrong
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $145,000,000
Box office: $403,449,830
Return: 278% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 13% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 31/100
IMDB rating: 5.2/10 · 179,224 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

2 wins & 6 nominations total

Part of

The Mummy Collection

The Mummy film series is a remake of The Mummy, loosely based on the original 1932 film. The first two films in the series were written and directed by Stephen Sommers.

Also by

Rob Cohen

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2017-06-21
★ 3/10
From dumb fun to... regular dumb. It's hard to find a point where Tomb of the Dragon Emperor wasn't hampered by itself. Or a point where it makes any sort of logical sense. Unfortunate that is was no good, lending credence to the need of a reboot, which we now have, but wish we didn't. Final rating:★½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid if possible.
John Chard2019-04-03
★ 4/10
Not the same Mummy twice, nor thrice for that matter. Well it's been pretty much universally panned has this third Brendan Fraser led instalment of the new age Mummy series. So lets not beat around the bush here, it's not very good, but it's hardly deserving of the 1/10 ratings it has been given by amateur on line reviewers. The plot (for what it's worth) sees young Alex O'Connell, now amazingly a grown man in a short space of time, unearth evil old Chinese Emperor Han and his accursed Terracotta Army. Naturally some bonehead is going to bring him back from the dead, and naturally the now retired O'Connell's are forced back into their Mummy fighting ways. Can Rick, Evelyn and poor Jonathan save the day? Will Alex prove his credentials as the offspring of such daring-do parents? Will anybody care come the finale? Rachael Weisz has (wisely) bailed and into her shoes comes a woeful Maria Bello, with fluctuating accents and zero chemistry with her leading man, Bello has undone the promise shown in World Trade Center & A History Of Violence. Steer clear of action movies dear. Fraser looks bored and can barely muster the energy to deliver the now tired and stilted lines. He admitted once that The Mummy 2 was basically a cheeky remake of the first film, quite what he has to say about this one I await with much interest. John Hannah is merely a bystander and it's probably the easiest money he will ever earn, an utter waste it be. Luke Ford does OK as Alex and Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li (the Emperor) & the beautiful Isabella Leong make do with what the unimaginative script gives them to do. What saves the film from being a bottom of the barrel feeder is the action quota. Even though the spectre of poor CGI hangs around every corner, the sequences come thick and fast and they at least keep the blood pumping, thus stopping the audience themselves from drifting into a centuries long sleep. There's some good gags too (you will yearn for more of Liam Cunningham), while the choreography for the fights involving the Asian stars is not to be sniffed at. Stephen Sommers left the directors chair for this one, handing over to Rob Cohen, which explains why the film is more concerned with action accelerate over substance. But Sommers, who gave us a genuine genre delight with the first film, has a writing credit and was on production duties for this effort. I trust he now feels saddened by what his franchise has now become. 4/10
Wuchak2019-12-08
★ 6/10
High adventure in China, albeit totally overdone In 1946 Rick & Evy (Brendan Fraser & Maria Bello) are bored in their middle age in England and so take an assignment to China where they meet Evelyn's brother (John Hannah) and their son (Luke Ford) who has discovered the tomb of a tyrannical ancient emperor (Jet Li). Unfortunately, there’s a secret plot to resurrect the mummified remains of the Emperor and all hell naturally breaks loose. Michelle Yeoh and Isabella Leong are also on hand. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (2008) is an overblown action/adventure horror/comedy popcorn blockbuster, just like the first two flicks. It's not as good as “The Mummy” (1999), yet it's better than the unabsorbing “The Mummy Returns” (2001). Yes, it's overdone like the second one, but the story is more compelling. While it's regrettable that Rachel Weisz opted out of this third film in order to be with her one year-old son, Maria Bello is a solid replacement and actually looks better in tight pants (as she's curvier and therefore more physically appealing). Of course the film’s preposterous in the tradition of the previous two and the Indiana Jones flicks. But let's give credit where credit is due: “Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” bends over backwards to entertain with tombs, priceless artifacts, mummies, Shanghai, the Great Wall, the Himalayas, yetis, Shangri-La, zombies, a three-headed dragon and martial arts. If you can get past the absence of Weisz and embrace Bello (which, let’s face it, isn’t that hard to do), this is easily the second best of the trilogy. Interestingly, Roger Ebert maintained that it was the best and he ain't no slouch when it comes to appraising pictures, whatever the genre. Yet my wife zeroed-in on the film’s flaw, which is the same as the previous flick: It tries too hard. It frantically throws in everything but the kitchen sink and is the lesser for it. (Yetis, seriously?) The movie runs 1 hour, 52 minutes, and was shot in Buckinghamshire, England; Montréal, Québec; and China (Beijing, Shanghai, Inner Mongolia, Tianmo, Heng Dian, Dongguan & Terracotta Warriors Museum, Xi'an, Shaanxi). GRADE: B-