When trilogies go wrong
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor starring Brendan Fraser,
Luke Ford and Jet Li
Movies made in trilogies tend to be big on car chases and small
on plot. Except for maybe
”
Star Wars
”
and the
”
Lord of the Rings
”
series, most sequels that come in pairs are just an attempt to
recapture some of the blockbuster glory of the first film. And most
of the time, they fall way, way flat.
When trilogies go wrong
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor starring Brendan Fraser, Luke Ford and Jet Li
Movies made in trilogies tend to be big on car chases and small on plot. Except for maybe “Star Wars” and the “Lord of the Rings” series, most sequels that come in pairs are just an attempt to recapture some of the blockbuster glory of the first film. And most of the time, they fall way, way flat.
Here are some signs that the last movie in the series probably won’t pass muster:
1.) An actor or actress who played a main role in the first two movies is not returning for the last installment
2.) It has been five or more years since the last movie was released
3.) The main characters now have adult children, even though they don’t look like they’ve aged a day since the last film
4.) The middle movie in the film seems like a two-hour plus trailer for the coming film
5.) The movies are based on a ride at Disneyland
I am sure there are plenty of other signs, but I think these wrap up some of the worst of the trilogies I’ve seen recently. Now the latest Mummy movie, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” breaks rules one, two and three. And I think there is a ride based on the movies at Universal Studios.
The Mummy
“The Mummy,” released in 1999, is an adventure movie in the tradition of Indiana Jones. Set during World War I, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) is an American fighting in the French Foreign Legion when he gets involved in an archeological dig. Along the way he meets Evelyn Camahan (Rachel Weisz) and her brother Jonathan (John Hannah). The charm in the movie is largely based on Fraser’s interaction with Weisz. The two are playfully flirtatious as they battle an ancient mummy brought back to life. The same chemistry carried the second movie, though the plot was similar.
Now for the last installment, we come back seven years later, though more than 20 years have past for the characters. Weisz declined to come back for the last installment so Maria Bello steps into the role. The writers actually put a tongue-in-cheek reference to this change of personnel in the beginning of the movie.
So here we are with Evelyn and Rick in retirement, but that can’t last too long. Their 20-something son Alex (Luke Ford) has been out searching for the lost tomb of an ancient Chinese emperor. One might think the son of parents who have twice awakened an Egyptian mummy would be a little more cautious around artifacts, but that’s not the case. Soon the family is on a chase to stop the risen emperor from taking over the world with the help of a Chinese girl named Lin (Isabella Leong.) In fact the only reason to watch the movie is the well-done acting of the Chinese characters at the beginning and end of the movie. Look for Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh to steal the spotlight.
Pirates of the Caribbean
The problem with the latest “Mummy” movie is mostly that it’s light on plot and the interaction of characters fell flat with changes to the casting. But even awesome actors can’t save a trilogy from itself sometimes. That was the case with “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The trilogy broke rules four and five.
First, the whole series is based on a ride at Disneyland. I have to say I totally loved the first film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” It was packed with great actors such as Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom. The movie moved quickly and made for a great action film. But then the directors or the studio, or somebody got it in their heads that it would be great to make two more movies. I can’t even summarize what happened in the last installment. The result is that the second and third films in the series just don’t really cut muster, though I guess they made a lot of money anyway.
Indiana Jones
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” technically isn’t part of a trilogy since it is the fourth film in the series, but I think it fits into the last-ditch effort to make some money off a franchise that often comes with trilogies. This film breaks rules two, three and sort of five – there is an Indy Ride at Disneyland, but technically based on one of the other movies.
Harrison Ford is back and he may or may not have an adult son in the form of Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf). He meets Mutt when the teenage rebel needs help finding his mother, who was abducted in South America. The whole movie is based on a lost artifact that has to do with aliens so the whole plot is pretty convoluted from the start. Ford does a decent job despite his age, but the movie just doesn’t have the appeal with the first three.
I understand the draw of the trilogy for studios – if a movie has a big draw, the sequel is likely to exceed those numbers – but they need to make sure each film can stand on its own and each subsequent film offers something more to viewers. It can be done. Just take a look at the “Lord of the Rings.”
