The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008)(Universal)

Source: Universal

The blockbuster global Mummy franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O'Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China to the neon-lit streets of post-war Shanghai and high into the spectacular Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O'Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.

Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, China's ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O'Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents.

As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force...unless the O'Connells can stop him first. Now, in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the trademark thrills and visually spectacular action of the Mummy series will be redefined for a new generation.

Though director Rob Cohen's resume includes blockbuster actioners such as xXx and The Fast and the Furious, many moviegoers do not know that the filmmaker is a student of anthropology who has long been intrigued by-as well as sometimes a resident of-Asia. When approached to helm an epic adventure that would take The Mummy series in a Far-Eastern direction, Cohen realized he could finally join two of his deepest passions: grand-scale filmmaking and China.

The director explains his lifelong interest in the country in a foreword to the moviebook companion piece for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He provides, "I have a deep love of Chinese culture and a complete fascination with the sweep and tumult of its 5,000-year history. Since high school, when my mother began painting Chinese watercolors as a hobby, China had occupied my imagination and reading time. I was intrigued by various dynasties, most especially the Tang and the Ming with their early explorers discovering Indonesia, India, Africa and the giant 'treasure ships' that may have circumvented the world long before Magellan, and might have reached the Americas long before Columbus."

As he read the screenplay for a new Mummy film-penned by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar-Cohen was impressed by both the script's humor and epic adventure outlined for the O'Connells. He had looked to the Far East several times for source material and believed this project would dovetail well with his curiosity of and studies about China. Cohen explains, "I'm a history buff, and I had read an enormous amount on Chinese history even before I came into this. I have loved the culture since I directed Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and a miniseries about two Chinese brothers immigrating to the United States, called Vanishing Son."

It was fortunate for all involved that the producers behind the juggernaut hits that launched it all-1999's The Mummy and 2001's The Mummy Returns-wanted to head in a new direction for the series and had commissioned Gough & Millar to shake up the franchise. They felt they had exhausted the possibilities in an Egyptian setting and were looking for a filmmaker who could take the trouble-seeking O'Connells out of Africa and expand their adventures to the continent of Asia. Of the audience's continued interest in the films that share the O'Connells' escapades, producer Stephen Sommers reflects, "I think the reason they were so successful is that they are romantic adventures set in exotic worlds. People just love that."

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor marks the third time James Jacks and Sean Daniel have produced a Mummy film. For this chapter, they would be joined by Bob Ducsay and Stephen Sommers as producers. All four men had begun their collaboration by creating the first two in the series, with Sommers directing and Ducsay serving as editor on both and executive producer on The Mummy Returns.

"It took us years before we had an epiphany of using the Terracotta Warriors in China," remembers producer Ducsay. "We realized this might be a great catalyst for a new adventure with characters the audience had grown to love in the first two stories."

The team discovered in Cohen a filmmaker with the experience necessary to create a film on the scale they imagined. "Thankfully, Rob wanted to make the picture, because he was an absolutely perfect fit," Ducsay sums. "He has the skill set to mount a gigantic production on two continents, is fantastic with action and actors and has a great sense of humor. These are all essential ingredients in the DNA of a Mummy movie"

"The idea that the Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an were, in fact, the mummies, really appealed to me," says Cohen. "It was all about exploring the true history of China during two periods, 200 B.C. and 1946, in an unusual way and having a lot of fun with it. It was an opportunity to use all the goodwill of The Mummy and the wonderful characters that Steve Sommers set up. All the great elements are there, but I wanted to take it in a whole new direction, away from Egypt and into Asia. It's a brand-new adventure for our heroes; spectacular, colorful and completely Asian."

About his interest in returning to the series, producer Sean Daniel admits that his obsession with this genre as a child continues to bring him back for more. "When I was a kid, I used to go to every Boris Karloff version [of a mummy film] I could find and the many other mummy movies that followed," he recalls. "I cut pictures of the mummy out of the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and stuck them on the wall. When I went to Universal, I immediately started to talk to them about making a mummy movie, as they are a personal love of mine."

Adds producer Jacks: "We've been part of the O'Connell family for almost a decade now. To help see their adventures continue and Rick and Evy begin to pass the mantle on to their son, Alex, makes us all feel proud. I admit, it's like seeing one of your own children grow up."

With director Cohen on board to inject an Asian influence into the series, the returning producers from the first two chapters and Gough & Millar's revamped screenplay, it was time to cast a shape-shifting emperor and a family of fighting O'Connells. Not to mention the thousands of man hours necessary to design gun battles and high-speed chases, creating the worlds of 200 BC and 1946 would prove quite a challenge.

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The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor - Creating An Epic Backdrop

Source: Universal

When production designer Nigel Phelps first met with director Rob Cohen, he knew they would be embarking on an immensely challenging creative journey. It was vital to Cohen that The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor have an epic look and feel to it, and that meant Phelps would need to give the production a unique and mythic visual canvas. A lifelong dream of the director’s—to share the fantastic culture and heritage of China in a film with the scope of this picture—the shoot was a challenge like nothing the two men had ever faced. And it all started with the design.

“When you begin a project like this and everything has to look huge, you have to decide how much will be physically built and how much will be digital,” explains Phelps. “That’s the equation you work out with the director. Going to China completely opened up the world to do a lot more physical scenery than we could have done anywhere else. When you conceive sets like a mausoleum that contains the Terracotta Army, it’s obviously not going to be an intimate little set.”

The style of the film naturally evolved from Cohen’s lifelong passion for Chinese culture and his Buddhist studies. He was concerned to make everything as true as possible, and the partners in design depicted a good deal of spiritual scenery in the film— particularly in the Himalayas and the stupa courtyard. For Cohen, the film’s design informed a world that reflected “Chinese history in an unusual way, and had a lot of fun with it as we explore two periods: the true history of 200 B.C. and the state of affairs in China in 1946.”

While collaborating with Phelps for the film’s look, Cohen voraciously read of the stories of the Terracotta Warriors of Xi’an, the Warring States period before the unification of China, the First Emperor’s immortality quest and the Great Wall’s construction.

The director and production designer agreed they did not want to be restricted in camera moves when it came time to lens the world’s most powerful emperor roaring across the continent (within two periods of two millennia), so the majority of the sets had to offer cinematographer Simon Duggan and his crew “360-degree shoots.” To create these enormous set pieces in Canada and China, Phelps began study that continued throughout the production. A team of Montreal researchers assisted him as they all worked at a rapid pace to design; it continued as they moved from set to set, followed by hundreds of construction crew workers to manifest their sketches.

Form would not always follow the original screenplay’s function; Phelps and Cohen remained open to expanding upon the script as they scouted locations. The designer gives an example that altered the film’s original beginning: “When we first came to China to scout, we traveled to Ningxia to look at these sand dunes the size of Denmark. I was flipping through a hotel brochure, a sort of ‘What’s on in Ningxia,’ and I discovered these pyramids that were absolutely phenomenal.

“The landscape is very similar, geographically, to what we had in Tian Mo [a desert area north of Beijing]—the foothills, the mountains and everything surrounding it,” he continues. “The shot was unscripted, but I knew Rob would love it so I brought him the idea and we decided to use it at the beginning of the film. People will look at the pyramids and think they are CG…you just don’t expect to see these things in China.”

The massive pyramids reside in a valley of hundreds of tombs that contained the remains of a race of Chinese annihilated by the Mongolians—because members of their tribe shot the arrow that killed Genghis Khan. It has only been a couple of hundred years since the Chinese began uncovering this land that had been completely forgotten. These tombs are the last vestiges of the culture of a people who killed the terrifying ruler.

The designer, veteran of such epic films as the blockbuster Troy, explains his unique take on imagining a film: “When I read a script, I look at the story and I see everything in terms of light and shape. This is light, and that is dark; this is tall, thin and that is short, fat. You want a variety and balance that goes with the way everything works with the script narrative. It’s a bit like music; the same principle applies to color.”

As his team worked on illustrations for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Phelps was inspired to have gold light serve as the primary influence on the film’s color palette. For example, one of the first sets his team created was the stupa courtyard set, in which they used thangkas (colorful painted scrolls) with frescoes on the perimeter. As the set was in shadow and Phelps and DP Duggan needed a swatch of color to catch the audience’s eyes, a member of the team suggested they use gold leaf on certain sections of the paintings.

“Gold is a great color that goes with everything,” concludes Phelps. “You can take it up or take it down; it works really well with the earth tones and the reds. It became a link in all of the sets—even in Imhotep’s nightclub set, where the color temperature of the lights gave that amber color through everything.”

See Also: The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor - Battling The Undead / The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor - Blending Fantasy And Reality

The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor - Battling The Undead

Source: Universal

It wouldn’t be a Mummy movie without intricate fight sequences. Any sequence involving master martial artist Jet Li raises the bar, but add to the film Brendan Fraser’s Krav Maga, Michelle Yeoh’s swordplay, Isabella Leong’s kung fu, Luke Ford’s martial arts-inspired street fighting and Maria Bello’s combination punches and you have a feast for fight fans.

Jet Li commends what was impressive about his director’s grasp of staging an exciting fight: "Rob has a very good understanding of the timing and the fast pace that is so important in a fight sequence, and he uses very interesting angles."

Key fights in the production include one set in the Foundation Chamber, the subterranean temple in which the Emperor attempts to raise his Terracotta Army. With ceilings formed from the bones of conquered enemies, the chamber is filled with flickering flames that line the walkway as the Emperor weaves his dark magic.

In the sequence, Rick O’Connell confronts the Emperor by throwing a knife into his back. The Emperor, only slightly inconvenienced, yanks it out and attacks O’Connell with a rage pent up over centuries of being cursed. O’Connell races at him, and an incredible hand-to-hand battle ensues.

Cohen came up with the idea that, in the years since we last met our hero, O’Connell had become skilled in the type of practical street fighting found in the short, sharp moves of Krav Maga. "It’s a system of combat defense devised by the Czech Jews during the Second World War," explains Fraser. "They started fighting back by using a system of body motions based on instinct. Basically, you go to the problem, rather than let it come to you. It’s confidence building and, needless to say, great exercise."

"Brendan is a fantastic action actor," commends Vic Armstrong. "He’s really been working out, and he is rock solid. He loves his action and knows what he is good at, so we catered to that in all fights we’ve done with him."

Asian fight coordinator MIKE LAMBERT, who worked with Michelle Yeoh in her breakout role in Tomorrow Never Dies, was primarily responsible for training the actors and choreographing the fight sequences in conjunction with stunt coordinator MARK SOUTHWORTH. Lambert, who has lived in Hong Kong for years, knew many of the film’s actors from having taught them in that country.

One sequence that fascinated the Chinese press was the sword fight between Jet Li and his longtime friend Michelle Yeoh. The fight takes place in the desolate beauty of Tian Mo desert and represents the first time Li and Yeoh have been on opposing sides of a film fight. "It’s funny," says Yeoh. "If you looked at our shooting schedule, it said, ‘The fight that the whole of Asia is waiting for.’"

Of the duo’s fighting sequences and trainers, Yeoh offers, "Jet’s fight coordinator, DE DE KU [affectionately known as Master De], is a longtime collaborator. He is so brilliant…we just stand there and let him weave his artistry around us. Jet and I understand each other. We are on the same beat and just doing the best we can." Jet Li agrees: "When you find a good player to fight with you, it’s like having a good opponent at tennis. You have to be on the same level to play well. I very much enjoyed working with Michelle, and I hope to do so in the future."

Other actors also had their fair share of the action. Maria Bello lived a childhood dream in a fantasy sword fight sequence—an homage to swashbucklers—as Evy. "Maria’s character is a lot more refined," explains Lambert. "She is a little more expert in martial arts, but she has also picked up Rick’s street-fighting style. Alex is a bit of a stylist, but again with a little bit of his father’s raw, street-fighting style mixed in." Luke Ford prepared for almost three months before production began. Necessary, as he would have to dodge a barrage of booby traps to awaken the planet’s newest threat.

"I spent five days a week working on the fight training," explains the actor. "I began with cardio, weights and stretching. Then I progressed into training for the fights; there were some martial arts, but also a lot of swashbuckling, punching and kicking. It was pretty intense."

Ford’s sparring partner, Leong, also spent much time training in martial arts. Adds Lambert, "Every spare opportunity Isabella had, she came to train and stretch. She put in a lot of hours and it really inspired her to do more."

Known for pushing the envelope in his action sequences, Armstrong went all out for this production. "It is just nonstop," says the master stunt choreographer. "It’s the kind of film I can really get my teeth into—with all sorts of action, from large scale down to interesting chases, fights and Jet Li’s martial arts."

During the key Shanghai chase sequence in which the Emperor Mummy drives through Shanghai on his chariot of four horses (filmed at Shanghai Studios), the sarcophagus flies through the streets while Lin and Alex desperately hang on. All the time, it is closely followed by the rest of the O’Connells on a truck loaded with fireworks.

"It’s a bit like Stagecoach crossed with Ben-Hur," laughs Armstrong. "We’ve got the two young leads in the movie fighting with Yang, who’s on the front of the chariot with the Emperor. It was a huge sequence and very complicated. We had a 500-person crowd every night for about two weeks."

There was also a fair amount of horse riding needed for the film; this took place in Tian Mo. Much of the horse work was done by the actors themselves, and the necessary stunt work was accomplished by Chinese stunt riders. Michelle Yeoh rides with Russell Wong, who has action sequences with his group of 12 warriors, and Jet Li rides his horse into battle.

Once Armstrong and crew had completed work on key chases, they moved down to Hengdian World Studio to complete the final action sequences. Armstrong reflects, "With every sequel, you have to raise the bar, and the ones that have gone before have been very good, so it was quite a challenge. It’s really interesting watching Rob work, with the speed of the shots he wants as much as the length of the shots."

Cohen also enjoyed their collaboration, especially Armstrong’s ability to execute ambitious projects with a keen eye for safety. "Vic has done everything from the Bond films and Indiana Jones to everything in between," nods the director. "He is one of those guys who takes your idea, builds on it and knows how to create it so it can be done safely."

See Also: The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor - Blending Fantasy And Reality