Stephen Sommers

The Mummy Trilogy Stephen Sommers

Triple bill of adventure films starring Brendan Fraser. 'The Mummy' (1999) follows American explorer Rick O'Connell (Fraser) as he discovers Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, before being apprehended by angry locals and subsequently arrested. Three years later, Englishman Jonathan (John Hannah) discovers an ancient artefact which he gives to his sister Evie (Rachel Weisz).

In turn, she trades the artefact for Rick's release from prison and the trio set off for Hamunaptra, hoping to arrive there before Beni (Kevin J. O'Connor), Rick's crooked former associate. However, Beni has already invoked a curse which frees Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a supernaturally-gifted mummy aiming to sacrifice Evie in a bid to resurrect his former lover Anck Su Namun (Patricia Velasquez).

In 'The Mummy Returns' (2001) Rick and Evie have now settled down to married life in London with their eight-year-old son Alex (Freddie Boath). Meanwhile, the British museum is playing host to the corpse of Imhotep, the mummy which had previously given Rick and Evie such a hard time. When ancient magic brings Imhotep back to life, a chain of events is set in motion that will lead to the end of the world, thus forcing Rick and Evie to spring into action once again.

Finally, in 'The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor' (2008) the action moves to China, where for 2,000 years, the ruthless Chinese Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) and his vast army of warriors have been frozen in time, cast in clay, waiting for their moment to rise again. When young archaeologist Alex O'Connell (Luke Ford) is duped into bringing the ancient warlord back to life, he soon realises he has to call in the only people he knows with experience and knowledge of how to battle the undead - his parents Rick and Evie (Maria Bello). As the emperor attempts to reunite with his massed warriors and finally fulfil his dream of world domination, Alex and his family, along with mystical sorceress Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh), have to pull out all the stops to keep the evil tyrant from achieving his ends.