Happy Birthday to Saeful and Calven Ng
Just as I thought, "The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor" was not as good as the other 2. Thank goodness I chose to watch it on a weekday... initially thought of watching it on Saturday, but my mum suggested that I do so on a weekday instead (since ticket prices are cheaper).
The story begins in ancient China, where Emperor Jin (loosely based on Emperor Qin Shihuang, and played by kungfu legend Jet Li) conquered all his enemies, many of whom were buried under the Great Wall of China, and mastered the five elements, but could not conquer death. To that end, he sought the help of a sorceress named Zi Yuan (played by the gorgeous Michelle Yeoh), who knew where to find the secret of immortality. Jin declares to his first in command, General Ming (played by American-born Russell Wong) that no man is to touch her; however, the two fell in love during their search, and eventually made love; the chief eunuch witnesses this and informs Emperor Jin on the bretrayal. After Zi Yuan supposedly casts the immortality spell on Jin, he ushers Zi Yuan to the balcony to watch as General Ming is pulled apart by horses. He then proceeds to stabs Zi Yuan hoping to vanquish her, but soon finds himself slowly turning into mud (being consmed 'by the dirt of his evil deeds'). She reveals that she has in fact cursed the Emperor and his army, turning them into terra cotta statues, and manages to escape.
The film then jumps ahead to the year 1946. Explorer Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser), his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello), and brother-in-law Jonathan are now retired; Eve is a best-selling author on "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns", based on the adventures shown in the first 2 films. Rick's and Eve's son Alex (Luke Ford) has dropped out of school and become an adventurer like his parents. With the financial backing of Roger Wilson, Alex locates the Dragon Emperor's tomb, and successfully brings the Emperor's remains (and horses) back to Shanghai. In the meantime, the British government entrusts the elder O'Connells to take the Eye of Shangri-La back to China as a good faith gesture from the British to the Chinese. All the O'Connells arrive at Imhotep's, an Egyptian-themed night club in Shanghai owned by Jonathan (the night club was founded to honor the O'Connells' defeat over Imhotep, the main villain of the first 2 Mummy films). Alex gives his parents a tour of the exhibit, where it is revealed that Roger Wilson is in league with a paramilitary group led by General Yang and his second in command Choi. Using the Eye of Shangri-La, which contains water from Shangri-La, they are able to resurrect the Emperor. The mysterious woman (Isabella Leong) who attacked Alex in the excavation site turns up to help the O'Connells, revealing herself to be Lin, the daughter of Zi Yuan.
The O'Connells and Lin travel to the Himalayas, where they get help from some yetis, and later meet up with Zi Yuan, who revealed that the fountain at Shangri-La had given her immortality, saving her from the wounde inflicted onto her by Emperor Han; in turn, her daughter Lin was also made an immortal. Later on, Zi Yuan gives up her immortality and that of her daughter's to resurrect the army of the skeletal warriors (who were wrongfully killed by Emperor Han, including Zi Yuan's lover Ming Guo) to assist the O'Connells in battling the Dragon's Emperor's Terra-Cotta Army for a huge-scale battle.
Frankly, I don't quite get why most movie-critics hate this film. Maybe it's due to the fact that the film was to coincide with the Olympics in Beijing? Poor storyline and execution? Bcos the film is plain dumb fun? Whatever the case, I actually find it quite a decent film. The showdown between Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh is one worthy scene, an awesome showcase of the 2 Asian stars' wushu skills. I rate this film 6 out of 10 stars.
For more info on the film, go here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy:_Tomb_of_the_Dragon_Emperor
This was what i did after watching the film...
1645 hrs- return stupid uniform to Bakerzin people and reclaim money
1700 hrs- bump into Wendy at PS
1800 to 1930 hrs- have dinner with wendy and Mum
2030 hrs- reached back home
Can I just say that I am greatly shocked by this piece of news... TV veteran and 3-time best Actress winner Huang Biren had quit from Mediacorp??? :-O I really don't know what to say. Click on the link to find out more... http://www.mediacorptv.sg/ch/buzzdetail/EDC080804-0000002
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