Popdose - Latest Comments in DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Deepthroat Ghoul — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:07:56 -0000

Fuck you.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Deepthroat Ghoul — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:48:08 -0000

Here's what James Rolfe said about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in his 2010 video, "Top 10 Sequels That Aren't as Bad as Everyone Says":

"In recent years, I have never heard so much hatred for a motion picture. The gophers, the fridge, the monkeys, the alien, I get it. With the gophers and the monkeys, it's only a few seconds. The fridge, yeah, OK, it went a little farfetched - as if nothing farfetched ever happened in an Indiana Jones movie (sarcasm). Of course you can't survive a nuclear bomb, it's just a fucking movie. You also can't survive flying off a cliff on a tank, or dropping out of a plane on a rubber raft and sliding off a mountain slope.

It's common knowledge that Spielberg was inspired by the James Bond franchise, a guy who escapes near-death situations all the time, that's what it's all about. About the alien, did it really come that much as a surprise? It's practically in the title "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Did anyone do their homework? Did anyone know that crystal skulls are believed to be extra terrestrial? There were tons of documentaries on TV in preparation for the movie release. I guess nobody watched them. The only thing I hated about the alien was that it was CG. The design of the alien was obviously a tribute to 1950's B-movies like "Invasion of the Saucer-Men". And since this movie takes place in the 50's, I can see what they're going for. But there was no CG in the 50's, and that's what makes it look so out-of-place. Either make it look classic or do something entirely original.

The audience consensus went further to say that aliens simply don't belong in an Indiana Jones movie. I wouldn't go that far. Aren't the Indiana Jones movies all about fantasy? We've seen ghosts that come out of an Ark then melt and explode people's faces, voodoo dolls, hearts being ripped out of people's chests, and a knight who sits in a cave for hundreds of years guarding the Holy Grail, but there's a "No Extra Terrestrial Policy"? People back up their argument by saying that the rest of the Indy movies all focused on a religious artifact.

Mutt: No, no, God says it's not like that.
Indy: Depends on who your god is.

Exactly, "Depends who your god is". It's all about a higher power. I mean he found the Holy Grail already, how do you top that?

I don't know what everyone expected. The only reason you see a movie like this is for the nostalgia factor. After 20 years, I never thought they'd make another Indiana Jones film. So it was just another nice little treat to see one on the big screen. The way they revealed Indy, I thought was really cool the way they keep you in suspense. First you see his hat, then his shadow, and then, welcome back my man. Take Harrison Ford out of the picture, and it's just your average shitty action flick. Everyone seems to forget what Indiana Jones was all about in the first place. It was a tribute to B-movies and old adventure series. You check your brain at the door, sit down, and enjoy. I got a genuine impression that Spielberg and Lucas were having fun with it. I got a carefree feeling that I was sitting at an old time Saturday matinée.

Bottom line: the movie was OK. It's not a masterpiece by any means and it's nowhere near as good as Raiders or Crusade. But who would have expected it to be? The old Indiana Jones movies were classics. [...] Is that how we critique movies nowadays? By just ranting and nitpicking about the individual moments we hated? Or do we look at the big picture as a whole?” There's a positive and negative here. Some people seem to follow whatever opinion seems the most popular. This is Cinemassacre saying, think for yourself."

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Deepthroat Ghoul — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:32:17 -0000

The biggest problem with this movie is that it tries to prove it's young and hip, and ends up being so juvenile. The action scenes are atrocious, the dialogue is idiotic and charmless, Maria Bello is no Rachel Weisz, Alex Ford is so insufferable, and both Brendan Fraser and John Hannag are just underused.

The film's meant to be a celebration of the entire Mummy franchise, but it brings out all the worst elements of the series, descending into self-parody. It's basically the birthday boy getting drunk and falling face-first into the cake. It's just shameful!

Here's hoping that the 2017 reboot will be a celebration of everything that is good about the entire Mummy series, because Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is the Batman & Robin of the franchise.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Guest — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:06:24 -0000

I think the Mummy films are great but it truly is a matter of expectations...I went in to Mummy 3 and Indy 4 thinking they were going to both suck but actually ended up liking the them both a lot.

And I do like the rest of the Mummy series.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Malchus — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:11:19 -0000

But here's the thing, I didn't think the action in the new Indy film was all that well staged. Besides the motorcycle chase, everything went on For--ev---er. That chase through the jungle? What the hell was that? Awful, just plain awful. Worse, the effects were just okay. This is Spielberg and this is Lucas and this is ILM and I'm saying the effects were just "okay?" That tells you something was very wrong. The whole thing felt like Spielberg and Ford were sleepwalking through the movie and they did whatever Lucas asked.

And where was Sallah? It's not an Indy movie without his trusted best friend. Instead we had to put up with John Hurt's overacting and Karen Allen being under directed.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

BobCashill — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:48:44 -0000

True, it's hard to have many expectations for a Rob Cohen movie, not that I didn't enjoy his Bruce Lee biopic and the first Fast and the Furious. But for me this was Stealth-level. I missed whatever it was Stephen Sommers brought to the table, though he's in my permanent movie doghouse since Van Helsing.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

Malchus — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:30:46 -0000

Maybe it was high expectations vs. low expectations, but when the name Spielberg is attached and the words "Indiana Jones" are above the title, I hope to be entertained and not cursing the time I've spent watching the movie. I didn't feel that way after watching this Mummy movie.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

BobCashill — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:26:02 -0000

I was admittedly mixed on Jones, but Spielberg still knows how to stage action in a classical way, without too much cutting and a respect for the geography and choreography of a sequence. (It's Lucas who has gone over to the dark side.) If you're at all CGI-averse, stay far away Mummy, which is a hodgepodge of incoherent effects (here come the Yeti!) for their own sake. And I liked the first one, anyway, and the poorly used Chinese cast of this one.

On the other hand, I tend to be more forgiving toward movies watched on DVD. There's less at stake, including the $12.50 (!) I have to pay at some Manhattan theaters. But I'd probably be reaching for the FF button fairly often during Mummy--not that I didn't enjoy Scott's to-hell-with-the-14%-approval-rating-on-Rotten Tomatoes-review. You should always call them like you see them. (As I did with The Dark Knight--my estimation of that is well below the 94% approval rating on RT.)

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

DwDunphy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:07:33 -0000

I have not seen this Mummy movie yet, but the fact that Indy 4 was reduced to a thousand wasted opportunities, Karen Allen as less an adventuress and more a shrieking tag-along, ball-smacking jokes, cutesy-pie CG groundhogs and cringe-inducing CG monkeys... I'm gonna go with The Mummy.

Re: DVD Review: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

BobCashill — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:45:53 -0000

This was better than Indiana Jones? Revoke this man's DVD reviewing license now... :)