...the ball was dropped on this film. Someone in Hollywood believed Brendon Fraiser and Jet Li in the same film would miraculously make this a winner. That someone should lose his job.

Synopsis: Ancient Chinese warlord is reawakened (along with 10,000 Terra Cotta warriors) to conquer the world. And there are Yetis....

The first two movies in the series were fantastically entertaining. You had action, emotion, love, despair, and discoveries of a linked past that made the movies engrossing. They had excellent scripts, beautiful effects, and acting that made it look real. I watch them over and over. This dog...well, at least I watched until the end.

Whoever cast this movie screwed the pooch. Fraser, as Rick O'Connell is, of course, excellent. I love the gung ho balls ahead character. He IS the character. In fact, he is the franchise.

Rachael Weisz declined to return citing problems with the script. Boy did she make the right call. So Maria Bello is cast as Evy. Dear God In Heaven. what where they thinking! Where Weisz played Evuy with emotion, perfect timing, and a boatload of sex appeal, Bello is a block of freaking wood who phones in her part. She has NO fluidity, no sense of timing, and not a trace of sex appeal. In fact, a block of wood could have done a much better job.

In the 2nd film, The Mummy Returns, the son, Alex, has a very strong `proper' English accent and typical `Brit' attitude. In this movie, Alex (Luke Ford) has NO trace of accent or his English upbringing. He plays the role like a young John Wayne, as if he was raised in Arizona. It totally fails.

Jet Li as Emperor Han...well, I loved him in Lethal Weapon 4, Unleashed, and The One. He should have done the role of Emperor Han with the same soft-sneering attitude he had in LW4. But he wasn't directed that way in this film. He was concrete, and wooden. There was no sense of surprise upon awakening 2000 years later. No marveling at the changes in the world. No wonder at how the world had changed. Totally unrealistic.

Redeeming factors: Michelle Yeoh (very big star in China) as Zi Yaun, the witch who betrays Han knowing his merciless character, Isabella Leong as her immortal daughter, and Russell Wong as General Ming Guo (Han's right hand man who falls in love with Zi Yaun). John Hannah plays Evy's gold-digging brother seamlessly from the prior films.

And there are the Yetis. Ya gotta love the Computer Graphics. At first, the Yetis were fluff, but then you start to like them. They are the `untarnished good' surrounded by evil.

The special effects are admirable. The battle scenes at the end are exceptional. The warriors (and Han) turning to sand and clay are so cool, myself and my friends all gave it a big `WHOA!'.

Rent it, just to see it. Own it, ONLY if you need to complete the series.

Hope this helps you decide.

Please keep in mind that I am one of a handful of people that saw this film ON THE BIG SCREEN IN A MOVIE THEATER instead of just on TNT, butchered for television, with commercial interruptions. It is much better the way it was intended to be seen. After seeing the film twice ON THE BIG SCREEN during its limited release, these are my comments:

Imagine a Yuppie Gerard Butler. Great looking. Confident. Successful. Gorgeous wife. Beautiful sweet daughter. The perfect life in upscale suburban Chicago. Enter mysterious menacing stalking stranger and their worst nightmare begins. He threatens the life of their daughter as insurance for their obedience to his demands.

Sound like the typical 'kidnapped kid' flick? It's not.

It's taut, suspenseful, edge of your seat storytelling combined with good solid performances by all, especially Bello and Brosnan. Butler is very good, but I've seen him better. I believe he filmed this on the heels of the grueling demands of 300 and it shows a bit. He may not be at the very top of his game here, but he still performs well.

Brosnan upped his credibility as an actor for me in this film. He played the menacing stranger perfectly. Just the right tone of voice and facial expressions, joined with his eyes and body language, spoke in unison to perfection in every scene. I'd really like to see more from him, he is a very good dramatic actor. I like him better as an older, mature man. More gritty, less suave.

Maria Bello is perfect as the mother held hostage by mother love and the need to protect her child at all costs.

I loved the score. Where you might expect a really intense, gritty score, this one opts for a quieter one with a hint of bluesy undertones and it works. It intensifies at the right moments, but never takes a front seat as often happens in thrillers. It melds with the action and helps makes each scene into an audiovisual, emotional emulsion.

In fact, the whole film is just quieter than one would expect, given what is usually served up with films of this genre. There are no car chases, no last minute rescues, no heroes. It never goes over the top. It has its feet on the ground and its eyes on what's human and real.

This film is no dud. Even though it had a very limited release, it is not the fault of the filmmakers or the actors. It is good movie-making. You may not think it's one of the best films you've ever seen, but there's a good chance you'll be satisfied that you got your money's worth. I give it a definite thumbs up.

Scale of 1-10? I give this an 8.

Warning: DON'T read much about this film. DON'T watch the trailer over and over. The less you know going in, the better your experience of it will be. Because of one seemingly innocuous remark made by someone who'd seen it, I guessed the ending about halfway through. I wasn't even trying. But things we hear stick in our minds whether we like it or not. I sincerely wish I had not guessed correctly. The rest of the film lost it's suspense for me.

Hint: This is a two timer. It's even better the second time.

...the ball was dropped on this film. Someone in Hollywood believed Brendon Fraiser and Jet Li in the same film would miraculously make this a winner. That someone should lose his job.

Synopsis: Ancient Chinese warlord is reawakened (along with 10,000 Terra Cotta warriors) to conquer the world. And there are Yetis....

The first two movies in the series were fantastically entertaining. You had action, emotion, love, despair, and discoveries of a linked past that made the movies engrossing. They had excellent scripts, beautiful effects, and acting that made it look real. I watch them over and over. This dog...well, at least I watched until the end.

Whoever cast this movie screwed the pooch. Fraser, as Rick O'Connell is, of course, excellent. I love the gung ho balls ahead character. He IS the character. In fact, he is the franchise.

Rachael Weisz declined to return citing problems with the script. Boy did she make the right call. So Maria Bello is cast as Evy. Dear God In Heaven. what where they thinking! Where Weisz played Evuy with emotion, perfect timing, and a boatload of sex appeal, Bello is a block of freaking wood who phones in her part. She has NO fluidity, no sense of timing, and not a trace of sex appeal. In fact, a block of wood could have done a much better job.

In the 2nd film, The Mummy Returns, the son, Alex, has a very strong `proper' English accent and typical `Brit' attitude. In this movie, Alex (Luke Ford) has NO trace of accent or his English upbringing. He plays the role like a young John Wayne, as if he was raised in Arizona. It totally fails.

Jet Li as Emperor Han...well, I loved him in Lethal Weapon 4, Unleashed, and The One. He should have done the role of Emperor Han with the same soft-sneering attitude he had in LW4. But he wasn't directed that way in this film. He was concrete, and wooden. There was no sense of surprise upon awakening 2000 years later. No marveling at the changes in the world. No wonder at how the world had changed. Totally unrealistic.

Redeeming factors: Michelle Yeoh (very big star in China) as Zi Yaun, the witch who betrays Han knowing his merciless character, Isabella Leong as her immortal daughter, and Russell Wong as General Ming Guo (Han's right hand man who falls in love with Zi Yaun). John Hannah plays Evy's gold-digging brother seamlessly from the prior films.

And there are the Yetis. Ya gotta love the Computer Graphics. At first, the Yetis were fluff, but then you start to like them. They are the `untarnished good' surrounded by evil.

The special effects are admirable. The battle scenes at the end are exceptional. The warriors (and Han) turning to sand and clay are so cool, myself and my friends all gave it a big `WHOA!'.

Rent it, just to see it. Own it, ONLY if you need to complete the series.

Hope this helps you decide.

I loved this movie. The casting was great. All the characters were lovable and it reminded me of how I grew up as a kid. I thought it was definitely entertaining for people of all ages but especially those of us that grew up in a time where there were no computers, no cell phones, and we had to come up with our own games to entertain us. (without getting killed)It's an enjoyable, entertaining movie with a happy ending and it promotes spending time together as a family and the importance of good friends. What more could you ask for?? I highly recommend this movie. I saw it twice and I can't wait to see it again.

This is a very creepy horror film that deserves comparison with some of the best of the non-exploitation and non-slasher scary flicks like The Others. The approach of the film, especially to begin with, resembles that of classics like Don't Look Now, or Picnic at Hanging Rock -- above all, the strangeness of the circumstances and the fear they invoke mirror the psychological turmoil of the characters -- and, as with those films, the hints at a deeper supernatural mystery are nicely balanced with the growing anxiety of the characters. That is true, at least, until the latter quarter of the film when it gives in to the supernatural and to the twists and turns of more mainstream scary fare and begins to seem more like, say, The Skeleton Key. Maria Bello gives her usual strong performance and, while he has less to do, Sean Bean is convincing as a distraught and loving father and estranged husband. The real star of the film, though, is the cinematographer and crew: the colors of the Welch coast are both beautiful and evocative of a deep and mythical past; the anxiety of the characters and the power of the ocean when they are looking for a drowning girl is captured by the frantic, but not shaky, movements of the camera; the look of "the dark" (you'll know it when you see it), is both subtle and believable. A worthwhile and intriguing film, that has unfortunately not received the attention it clearly deserves.

Please keep in mind that I am one of a handful of people that saw this film ON THE BIG SCREEN IN A MOVIE THEATER instead of just on TNT, butchered for television, with commercial interruptions. It is much better the way it was intended to be seen. After seeing the film twice ON THE BIG SCREEN during its limited release, these are my comments:

Imagine a Yuppie Gerard Butler. Great looking. Confident. Successful. Gorgeous wife. Beautiful sweet daughter. The perfect life in upscale suburban Chicago. Enter mysterious menacing stalking stranger and their worst nightmare begins. He threatens the life of their daughter as insurance for their obedience to his demands.

Sound like the typical 'kidnapped kid' flick? It's not.

It's taut, suspenseful, edge of your seat storytelling combined with good solid performances by all, especially Bello and Brosnan. Butler is very good, but I've seen him better. I believe he filmed this on the heels of the grueling demands of 300 and it shows a bit. He may not be at the very top of his game here, but he still performs well.

Brosnan upped his credibility as an actor for me in this film. He played the menacing stranger perfectly. Just the right tone of voice and facial expressions, joined with his eyes and body language, spoke in unison to perfection in every scene. I'd really like to see more from him, he is a very good dramatic actor. I like him better as an older, mature man. More gritty, less suave.

Maria Bello is perfect as the mother held hostage by mother love and the need to protect her child at all costs.

I loved the score. Where you might expect a really intense, gritty score, this one opts for a quieter one with a hint of bluesy undertones and it works. It intensifies at the right moments, but never takes a front seat as often happens in thrillers. It melds with the action and helps makes each scene into an audiovisual, emotional emulsion.

In fact, the whole film is just quieter than one would expect, given what is usually served up with films of this genre. There are no car chases, no last minute rescues, no heroes. It never goes over the top. It has its feet on the ground and its eyes on what's human and real.

This film is no dud. Even though it had a very limited release, it is not the fault of the filmmakers or the actors. It is good movie-making. You may not think it's one of the best films you've ever seen, but there's a good chance you'll be satisfied that you got your money's worth. I give it a definite thumbs up.

Scale of 1-10? I give this an 8.

Warning: DON'T read much about this film. DON'T watch the trailer over and over. The less you know going in, the better your experience of it will be. Because of one seemingly innocuous remark made by someone who'd seen it, I guessed the ending about halfway through. I wasn't even trying. But things we hear stick in our minds whether we like it or not. I sincerely wish I had not guessed correctly. The rest of the film lost it's suspense for me.

Hint: This is a two timer. It's even better the second time.

Please keep in mind that I am one of a handful of people that saw this film ON THE BIG SCREEN IN A MOVIE THEATER instead of just on TNT, butchered for television, with commercial interruptions. It is much better the way it was intended to be seen. After seeing the film twice ON THE BIG SCREEN during its limited release, these are my comments:

Imagine a Yuppie Gerard Butler. Great looking. Confident. Successful. Gorgeous wife. Beautiful sweet daughter. The perfect life in upscale suburban Chicago. Enter mysterious menacing stalking stranger and their worst nightmare begins. He threatens the life of their daughter as insurance for their obedience to his demands.

Sound like the typical 'kidnapped kid' flick? It's not.

It's taut, suspenseful, edge of your seat storytelling combined with good solid performances by all, especially Bello and Brosnan. Butler is very good, but I've seen him better. I believe he filmed this on the heels of the grueling demands of 300 and it shows a bit. He may not be at the very top of his game here, but he still performs well.

Brosnan upped his credibility as an actor for me in this film. He played the menacing stranger perfectly. Just the right tone of voice and facial expressions, joined with his eyes and body language, spoke in unison to perfection in every scene. I'd really like to see more from him, he is a very good dramatic actor. I like him better as an older, mature man. More gritty, less suave.

Maria Bello is perfect as the mother held hostage by mother love and the need to protect her child at all costs.

I loved the score. Where you might expect a really intense, gritty score, this one opts for a quieter one with a hint of bluesy undertones and it works. It intensifies at the right moments, but never takes a front seat as often happens in thrillers. It melds with the action and helps makes each scene into an audiovisual, emotional emulsion.

In fact, the whole film is just quieter than one would expect, given what is usually served up with films of this genre. There are no car chases, no last minute rescues, no heroes. It never goes over the top. It has its feet on the ground and its eyes on what's human and real.

This film is no dud. Even though it had a very limited release, it is not the fault of the filmmakers or the actors. It is good movie-making. You may not think it's one of the best films you've ever seen, but there's a good chance you'll be satisfied that you got your money's worth. I give it a definite thumbs up.

Scale of 1-10? I give this an 8.

Warning: DON'T read much about this film. DON'T watch the trailer over and over. The less you know going in, the better your experience of it will be. Because of one seemingly innocuous remark made by someone who'd seen it, I guessed the ending about halfway through. I wasn't even trying. But things we hear stick in our minds whether we like it or not. I sincerely wish I had not guessed correctly. The rest of the film lost it's suspense for me.

Hint: This is a two timer. It's even better the second time.