MovieChat Forums > The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) Discussion > It's a real shame this one sucked so bad...

It's a real shame this one sucked so badly

posted 8 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8708)
5 replies | jump to latest

The Mummy is one of my favorite movies of all time. I put it right up there with the Indiana Jones movies as an adventure classic.

But the second film was a distinct disappointment and the third is an even graver disappointment, capping off a trilogy that has one good film and two poor ones, and that could've been so much more.

Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have THREE great Mummy movies? That would be amazing. But instead, as far as I'm concerned, there is no trilogy. There's just The Mummy.

When I found out the series was being rebooted, that gave me some hope for more early 20th century adventure films, but now that I've seen that it's instead a Mission Impossible movie with a mummy, set in the present day, all those hopes are lost.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (17735) 6 years ago

This is a minor masterpiece compared to the Tom Cruise movie. It's short, action packed, and knows what it is: a dumb slice of action/adventure schlock. Which if we're being honest is also what the 1999 movie did. But it was so elegant in execution by comparison to the 2008 movie (and certainly the 2017 reboot) that it transcended everyone's expectations and became a true classic.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8708) 6 years ago

I wouldn't call the '99 film "dumb." I think that word is thrown around too much. It seems that some people think that if a plot isn't about some deep philosophical rumination or intriguing scientific idea that it's a "dumb" movie, and I don't agree. Freddy Got Fingered is a dumb movie--an absolutely brain-dead movie in fact--but I found the '99 Mummy to be an engaging and intelligently written adventure film.

As for Tom Cruise's film, I actually kind of liked it. It's nothing in comparison the the original Fraser movie, but I think I probably prefer it to either of the sequels to that film. I wish it had been more of an adventure movie and less of an action-horror film, but I kind of liked the overall vibe of the movie, I thought it had a cool visual look and every performed great in their roles. I am a Tom Cruise fan, though.

[–] strntz (12225) 6 years ago

I think the second film was decent enough and would be considered better if the third roared back with a gem (like the Indiana Trilogy).

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8708) 6 years ago

Hmm. . .

I dunno, man. I just rewatched it a few years ago in an attempt to give it another shot and still just could not get into it. Probably due to (if I'm remembering correctly) too much of the movie taking place in more modern urban settings, as well as--and this is the biggest problem--too much of the plot feeling hard to follow and borderlined incomprehensible.

[–] millsey72 (10244) 2 years ago

They already made 4 great Mummy movies. Check out from the 40s, The Mummys Hand, Mummys Tomb, Mummys Ghost and Mummys Curse