This film, is a bit of a disappointment. (At least I watched it free) There is Jet Li, plus it rides on massive reputation of 2 previous titles, and then it falls into an abyss.

1) The plot is very very predictable. You almost know what’s coming up next, or at least within inches once the story casts start talking about plans or whatever. Basically there is no element of surprise, thus you cannot feel the oomph that should come with a blockbuster.

2) There are quite a number of illogical moments in the film. The emperor is claimed to have mastery over the 5 (chinese) elements. The word “mastery” shouldn’t be randomly used. If he is really that powerful, why don’t he just make an effort to make sure he kill those people in the know, instead of say oh, have a little fun with them and let them have the freedom to gather assistance and firepower to crush his regime later. On another note, when Michelle Yeoh was stabbed early in the show, it was discovered much later that Yetis saved her. They supposedly hail from the mountains of Tibet (as portrayed in the film). Michelle Yeoh was escaping from the forbidden city or something like that, basically the palace. That is nowhere near Tibet. We see later that the site is very very near to a portion of the Great Wall, a structure primarily erected to protect against northern barbarians. Trust me, its friggin’ far from the Tibetan mountains still, and with sprawling expanses of desert in the way, those Yetis shoudn’t be found anywhere near to save her.

3) While we are on the topic of location. I remember vividly when the emperor is turned into clay. Fastforward 2000 years later, when he is discovered in this tomb. It is obviously in a different location, and he is miraculously now atop a war chariot.

4) Most of the jokes are downright not funny. And there ain’t witty comments or stuffs in the movie to engage the more intellectual audiences.

5) 2 conflicting points in culture. The dragon emperor eh… He is a goddamn chinese emperor. The chinese dragon is a symbol of the mandate of heaven, hence the name… But no, the friggin’ emperor must think that a three headed western dragon with huge flapping wings look more cool. Next, way early in the show Michelle Yeoh placed the cursed in Tibetan tongue. Way later when she raised the army of skeletons, she actually used English. Those arcane spells she learnt should have a common origin and so should have been in the same language. Even if you did argue otherwise, using English is really wrong as well because clearly those skeletons don’t understand English, as evident from the messy conversation between them and our protagonists. So how then do you respond to a summon when you have no friggin’ idea what the other side is talking about?

There are more negatives, and few positives. For one, it doesn’t live up to the hype and reputation. For those who have not catch this show, I suggest you don’t unless you have a really really burning desire for some reason or another.