The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Mike Rogers -- Library Journal, 07/29/2008

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; A Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook. Newmarket. Aug. 2008. 176p. illus. ISBN 978-1-55704-805-9. pap. $19.95. FILM

Writer/director Stephen Sommers’s Mummy series has proven a huge hit with fans. For Mummy III, (http://www.themummy.com) however,Sommer’s has vacated the director’s chair with Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) helming the film (he provides an introduction detailing his involvement with Sommers and producers and writers to get the film off the ground).Following Newmarket’s standard pattern, this offers a detailed folder on the film’s making, touching down on a little bit of everything—the actors, production, costumes, props, CG, art design, locations, etc., etc. M3 is set in China and the Himalayas so has a different flavor than its desert- and jungle-based predecessors. The thing that makes or breaks film books is the illustrations and this has plenty of pix, story boards, concept art, screen grabs, design sketches, the works. Action adventure films have proven monstrously popular this summer and this one, which already has a large fan base, shouldn’t be any different [I attended a press preview for Mummy III yesterday, and it’s great fun]. For this price, grab one.—Mike Rogers, LJX/LJ