When it was announced that Rob Cohen�s action caper would be set in China rather than dusty old Egypt, traditional home to the men in bandages, the big question was where the mummy would come from.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (12A)
Star rating: **
Dir: Rob Cohen
With: Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Jet Li

WHEN it was announced that Rob Cohen's action caper would be set in China rather than dusty old Egypt, traditional home to the men in bandages, the big question was where the mummy would come from. Some magnificent creature had to be lurking in the East, a finely-preserved being from time immemorial, ready to wreak havoc on those who would disturb its peace. Turns out, as the title of this stodgy picture suggests, it's an emperor with an army in tow. Pity: I was rather hoping for Joan Collins.

The Mummy franchise has made a habit of confounding expectations. Stephen Sommers's first instalment, in 1999, was an unexpected delight, a cheesy, cheap version of Indiana Jones and none the worse for it. His follow-up, The Mummy Returns, was an obvious though enjoyable retread. If Sommers' B movies for the modern age merited a B plus and a C respectively, Cohen deserves a D minus for trying hard but falling flat.

It's been seven years since Mummy 2, and it takes almost as long again for Mummy 3 to get going. Come with Cohen back to ancient China, where there lived an emperor who craved global domination and immortality. After enlisting the services of a witch who does the dirty on him, he and his army are consigned to be preserved in terracotta until the spell should be broken.

Enter, many centuries later, the O'Connell family. Mum Evie - mum as in mother, not mummy - is played this time by Maria Bello, Rachel Weisz having moved on to other things. Dad Rick is still Brendan Fraser and Scotland's John Hannah is back as uncle Jonathan. Otherwise, the new faces include Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), martial arts legend Jet Li as the emperor, and Luke Ford, posing as Rick and Evie's son, Alex. I say posing because he looks only a couple of years younger than mum and dad. Perhaps Evie and Rick have been having sneaky nips at the old embalming fluid down the years.

Alex, who has entered the family business of daredevil archaeology, dreams of finding the Dragon Emperor's tomb. As luck and the creaky script would have it, his parents and uncle are in the same part of the world. Soon the whole gang are embroiled in another mummy-chasing adventure involving explosions, revolvers, outrageous coincidences and, when all else fails, extreme silliness.

Cohen, director of The Fast and the Furious, puts together some pretty decent action sequences, with the reawakening of the emperor and the flight from Shanghai among the well-choreographed exercises in hurtling whizz-bang chaos.

Elsewhere, there is a depressing reliance on computer-generated imagery to generate spectacle. CGI often operates on a law of diminishing returns - the more it is used, the less it impresses.

Part of the thrill to be had from watching a DeMille movie lies in knowing those casts of thousands were living, breathing actors, all turning out for the audience's entertainment. A DeMille set piece took Herculean efforts to pull off. Knowing some graphic artist has been tapping away at a keyboard to produce his own byte-sized hordes somehow doesn't inspire the same awe.

The special effects come into their own when the face-melting and decapitations begin. Like The Dark Knight, Cohen's picture pushes the limits of a 12A certificate, but much of the fighting is done with fists and feet in the many scenes featuring martial arts.

Overall the tone remains light and family-friendly, save for the rather off moment when John Hannah's character curses the pursuing mummies. Indy would never have used such language, armies of the undead or not.

Hannah, playing the idiot uncle, gurns and goofs his heart out. There was some scoffing at our boy's performances in the first two movies, but his silly ass act suits the piece. When it comes to electricians turned thesps, no-one can hold a candle to the former Rebus star.

Fraser is his usual amiable self, rather too heavy to be a swashbuckling sort but giving it his all, while Bello, on a hiding to nothing trying to replace Weisz, throws herself into the action scenes, which get more impressive as the time runs on. All three flog the comedy banter for all it's worth, which is about tuppence halfpenny.

Where once the Mummy delighted in playing up to B movie conventions, the joke is now showing its age. Plucky to the end, the producers seem to believe there's life in the old idea yet. On this showing, it will take a bolder move than crossing continents to bring the fun back.

Even then, the mummy question remains. As Boris Karloff knew, you can't have a mummy without bandages. Time to use the first aid kit on this franchise, or let it rest in peace.