While beautiful to look at, I am astonished how anemic the movie felt.
While director Rob Cohen (taking over for Stephen Sommers) knows how to start a movie, somehow this one gets muddled in too many logic flaws. And the worst thing that could happen to a movie, which is...the characters are dumb.
I'm also perplexed on, casting of Luke Ford as the son, Alex O'Connell, when he appears to be in his mid-to-late 20's while Brendan Fraser seems to be in his early 30's. WRONG! At least give Brendan a greying beard or something. The guy is still yoked (for a 1940's guy who had been sitting around with no adventures in the last 8 years besides flyfishing?). Poor choices like this sink the ship. And though we grew accustomed to Rachel Weisz's Evelyn O'Connell (which lingers with a heavy feeling of dread)...Maria Bello does do the best she can with weak material. To me, they probably should've casted an Englishwoman. But Bello seemed hot off of Jerry Bruckheimer reparatory troupe, so...why not? This movie just has a very straight to video feel. Not that the concept wasn't an interesting one. It seems Jet Li was woefully placed as a "favor gig" to China-a-phile Cohen. He's not given much...like The Rock before him. To me, it's all wasted time to re-create a sense of wonder that was from the first one ("The Mummy Returns" wasn't that great either. Looking back, it's actually a slog).
A few others things that seem lazy is casting Michelle Yeoh, whom, as a witch, reads incantations in English. Can't explain why. And her daughter and her speak to each other in English, though...they speak Mandarin before that. Why? These things matter, and it seems lazy when they drop details, when this movie is all about details. Though the production design is draw droppingly beautiful (Shanghai in particular), the cinematography of Simon Duggan does add a ton to the nostalgic feel of that era. It's glossy and it glitters, but the story really and resolution will leave you...flat. It was a nice attempt.
I'm also perplexed on, casting of Luke Ford as the son, Alex O'Connell, when he appears to be in his mid-to-late 20's while Brendan Fraser seems to be in his early 30's. WRONG! At least give Brendan a greying beard or something. The guy is still yoked (for a 1940's guy who had been sitting around with no adventures in the last 8 years besides flyfishing?). Poor choices like this sink the ship. And though we grew accustomed to Rachel Weisz's Evelyn O'Connell (which lingers with a heavy feeling of dread)...Maria Bello does do the best she can with weak material. To me, they probably should've casted an Englishwoman. But Bello seemed hot off of Jerry Bruckheimer reparatory troupe, so...why not? This movie just has a very straight to video feel. Not that the concept wasn't an interesting one. It seems Jet Li was woefully placed as a "favor gig" to China-a-phile Cohen. He's not given much...like The Rock before him. To me, it's all wasted time to re-create a sense of wonder that was from the first one ("The Mummy Returns" wasn't that great either. Looking back, it's actually a slog).
A few others things that seem lazy is casting Michelle Yeoh, whom, as a witch, reads incantations in English. Can't explain why. And her daughter and her speak to each other in English, though...they speak Mandarin before that. Why? These things matter, and it seems lazy when they drop details, when this movie is all about details. Though the production design is draw droppingly beautiful (Shanghai in particular), the cinematography of Simon Duggan does add a ton to the nostalgic feel of that era. It's glossy and it glitters, but the story really and resolution will leave you...flat. It was a nice attempt.