'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'

Rating:

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

August 1, 2008

PG-13

PLOT Archaeologist Rick O'Connell and his good-looking son, Alex, team up to stop an ancient emperor from taking over the modern world.

CAST Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, Luke Ford

LENGTH 1:53

PLAYING AT Area theaters. Find showtimes.

BOTTOM LINE Fast-moving and mostly fun, but also overly familiar.

Large of budget but modest in ambition, the "Mummy" movies have never aimed to be more than cheerfully blatant knock-offs of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The first film, in 1999, came 10 years after the third "Raiders" installment (" Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade") and capitalized on our thirst for a handsome archaeologist battling ancient creatures during the glamorous years before World WarII. "The Mummy" became a hit, proving that if there's no Coke around, we'll settle for RC Cola.

The new "Mummy" has unluckier timing, arriving on the heels of the long-awaited fourth "Raiders." It stars Jet Li, who already showed up this summer in " The Forbidden Kingdom." And we just saw plenty of stone technology and spell-casting in " Hellboy II." All of which makes " The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" amiable as it may be, feel overly familiar.

This time the date-stamp is 1946. Treasure hunter Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife, Evelyn (Maria Bello, replacing Rachel Weisz), come out of early retirement to convey a priceless stone to China, not realizing that their renegade son, Alex, is already there. Alex has just unearthed the sarcophagus of the Dragon Emperor (Li), who's been slumbering for centuries under the curse of a sorceress (Michelle Yeoh, of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). Turns out the Chinese Army wants the stone, which has the power to awaken the emperor and his dormant army of terra-cotta warriors.

Director Rob Cohen ("The Fast and the Furious") keeps things chugging along: The more inventive scenes include a headless horse chase and an avalanche suspended in midair. But the film's self-effacing humor - all those jokey asides from Fraser in mid-battle - wears thin. Though it tries to juice up its mojo with currently popular Asian themes and martial-arts sequences, this "Mummy" seems a teeny bit musty.

Name that tomb in 3 (or 4) films

In "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," Brendan Fraser, as archaeologist Rick O'Connell, tries to put a good spin on his supposed mummy-killing expertise: "Same mummy - twice!" Here's a timeline of the three films (or is it four?) in the popular franchise:

"The Mummy" (1999). In 1923, Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) accidentally awakens the high priest Imhotep by reading aloud from the Book of the Dead. It's up to Rick to figure out how to send the monster back to the underworld.

"The Mummy Returns" (2001). Ten years later, in 1933, Imhotep reappears, and this time his followers capture Rick's son, Alex (Freddie Boath). Rick and Evelyn also contend with the biceps of the Scorpion King (Dwayne " The Rock" Johnson).

"The Scorpion King" (2002). This spin-off, with Johnson in the title role, takes place about 5,000 years ago. Kelly Hu shows some skin as Cassandra, the future queen.

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (2008). Alex unearths the Dragon Emperor. His parents unwittingly provide the stone that brings him back to life along with his army of statues.