To understand the appeal of the latest film in the Mummy series, you have to appreciate the attraction of its leading man. Brendan Fraser returns as adventurer Rick O’Connell in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. He is, as always, solid, dumb, goofy and slightly apologetic. Like the film itself, he has a weakness for large guns and narrative-flattening explosions; he’s occasionally imbecilic, you wish he had less dialogue to mangle, but ultimately it’s hard not to feel a certain affection for the big lunk.

When you buy your ticket for the latest Mummy adventure you’re signing up for a jovial romp that plays fast and loose with archaeological fact, not Kurosawa. But according to the chorus of vitriol from the American critics, that’s unforgivable. An undeniable problem is the shapely hole left by the absence of Rachel Weisz from the cast. Maria Bello steps into the role of Rick’s archaeologist wife Evelyn, but although she’s a decent actress the spiky rapport between husband and wife is lost. Weisz’s Evelyn was a vampish adventuress; Bello’s is more prep-school headgirl. Another new addition is Alex (Luke Ford), the O’Connells’ son, grown up and plundering archaeological treasures of his own.

But, cast changes aside, it’s business as usual in the Mummy franchise. An ancient sarcophagus crow-barred open in China reveals the fossilised remains of the power-crazed Dragon Emperor (Jet Li); naturally the O’Con- nell family are on hand in Shanghai to see the despot roused from his 2,000-year slumber. A chase through the lantern-lit alleys of the old city is terrific – Rick commandeers a firework lorry and the director Rob Cohen takes the opportunity to blow up most of the set. These effects-driven set pieces are the raison d’être of the Mummy films – they are the reason why it doesn’t matter that that the dialogue creaks. It’s no masterpiece, but for good-natured escapism, the latest Mummy adventure gives Indiana a run for his money.

12A, 113 minutes

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