In late 1922, the archaeologist Howard Carter made the discovery of a lifetime when he unearthed the tomb of King Tutankhamun, one of the most well-preserved tombs ever discovered. Despite the numerous artifacts uncovered, which took a number of years to fully catalog, the incident is more widely remembered as starting the “Curse of the Mummy” phenomenon, as Carter’s financier, Lord Carnevon, died a few weeks after entering the tomb – the same time Carnevon’s dog died, Carter’s canary was eaten by a snake, and there was a mass power outage in Cairo.

Why the backstory? Because apparently the curse extends to the latest mummy movie, starring Brendan Fraser, as well.

“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” transplants the scene from Egypt to China, and has less of a focus on Frasier’s character, Rick O’Connell, than his son, Alex. Following in his father’s footsteps, Alex discovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor, a warlord renowned for his tyranny and cruelty. Upon transporting the remains to Shanghai’s historical society, the O’Connell family fights a sect of the Chinese military devoted to resurrecting the emperor.

The first “Mummy” film, while not groundbreaking, was an enjoyable flick which found its home in cable re-runs. “The Mummy Returns” had a slight dip in quality, but was almost as good, but now the whole idea is getting stale.

Even worse: Apparently the writers know the problem and aren’t putting any effort into fixing it. There are several parts in the movie where the lines are really jarring and a few occasions where the writers throw in modern jokes that don’t fit well. For instance, if the movie is about a mummy, then I can understand other mythical creatures, such as some abominable snowmen showing up. I can even get behind them punting some evil Chinese soldiers. But punting them over a building, then turning to another snowman to get a field goal hand signal is a bit much.

Fraser and the rest of the cast are solid throughout. Nothing outstanding, nothing horrible. But by the third installment, with no change bigger than a new location, everything just starts to drag, with not much new to offer.

At the end of the movie, a character known for his ability to turn and run goes off with a large diamond to Peru, “where there aren’t any mummies.” As he drives off, a text scroll said “Soon after, mummies were found in Peru.” One can’t help but wonder if they could have pulled the same gig at the end of “Returns” and saved everyone this uninspiring film.

2.5 * (out of 5)