The mummy goes East in this flashy, ludicrous threequel — the only summer blockbuster to use a Chinese tourist attraction as an instrument of global conquest! Lured out of retirement, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser, hammy as ever) and wife Evelyn (now played by Maria Bello) travel to Shanghai to help their headstrong son (Luke Ford) who has uncovered the crypt of an ancient Chinese emperor (Jet Li). The most career-oriented mummy yet, he plans to drink from the fountain of eternal youth at Shangri-la and then resurrect his battalions of terra-cotta warriors. (Lines like “I will crush any idea of freedom!” may or may not be intended to reflect current Chinese leadership.) To make the convoluted backstory franchise-friendly, director Rob Cohen (xXx) resorts to some unforgivable voiceover in a movie that steals freely from a lot of sources, principally Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 114 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Circle + Suburbs
