Saw the new Mummy tonight…

The big twist this time around as we’ve all been seeing in trailers, is that the story is about the supernatural mysteries of China rather than Egypt.

One of the pleasures of the first Mummy was its travelogue quality, and its setting in a time where discoveries — and the consequences of discoveries — could be made. That whole feeling is very present here, and its simplicity energizes a story that is in many ways unremarkable... It was probably a safe bet on the part of the producers to base the structure of this film on the first one.

We start with a prologue in ancient China where a ruthless warlord (Jet Li) has conquered most of China, ruling it with murder and fear. But he wants more and decides what he really wants is immortality (I think... this whole part is subtitled). He hears of a wizard who knows the secret of immortal life and sends for him, only to find that he is dead and his work has been taken up by his daughter (Michelle Yeoh). Jet takes one look at Michelle and realizes he wants immortality with a side of Yeoh, but she rebuffs him. She then falls in love with one of Jet’s lieutenants, and when Jet find out, he has the rival killed. Michelle takes revenge by pretending to give Jet a spell of immortality, but instead curses him to an eternity as a stone figure. The Emperor and his entire army – seemingly thousands of them – crack and bleed and are finally baked into the familiar figures of the famous Terra Cotta soldiers of China Great, great effects sequence.