Third time ain't a charm

In Hollywood, the best movies whether cash cows or critically acclaimed, sometimes come in trilogies such as: 1. Matrix I had to watch the first one five times to understand it. I have yet to do multiple screenings of the other films. 2. Oceans 11 through 13. It makes one want to wear a really good suit to work. 3. I didn't like Spiderman very much but it did so well in the box office. 4. Xmen, even if they didn't make Phoenix appear the way she did in the comic books. 5. The Godfather 6. Lord of the Rings (if you loved the movie, you'll love the Very Secret Diaries of Lord of the Rings), 7. and to some, High School Musical. Unfortunately, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a sad example of how sometimes, good things do not come in threes. When I first saw the trailer, I said to myself (and whoever I was with then) that it was a movie that I really wanted to watch. Isn't that the voice of the guy in the Voltron Intro? Now I think I should have waited for it to come out in HBO. This, of course, is the latest sequel in the revamped Mummy franchise which began in 1999. The first one was a witty reinvention of the horror classic, the sequel was a typically overblown attempt to be bigger and better, and this one is simply an act of desperation. Things I didn't like about it (contains spoilers): - Rachel Weisz didn't reprise her role, instead Maria Bello was cast to play the adventurous, Legend-knowing wife. I guess if you've already won an Oscar, you can turn down anything and give "conflicting schedules" as an excuse. - Maria Bello was too old for Brendan Fraser and Brendan Fraser was too young to play a father to a 20+ year old. - Jet Li didn't have much speaking lines. I think he only had 20 minutes worth of it. - It wasn't established why the curse involved being a terracotta statue forever. - The son in Mummy 2 had a British accent. The son in Mummy 3 completely lost it. - Jet Li plays too many warlord/ Emperor/ ninja guy roles - I found it weird that the good guys weren't shocked to see mythical creatures. Perhaps interacting with Yeti and three headed dragons are daily fare in the O'Connel household - The editing was bad. - How could have the 2 Chinese suck ups survived with a few bumps and some bruises after a bomb was dropped (and went out with a bang!) on their jeep