NMR: 2008 leftovers

I'm going through a bunch of films from 2008 that came and went from the budget theater before I had a chance of seeing them. Since they're so recent, I'll give my traditional letter grade, but do condensed reviews.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Man, Brenden Fraser once again gets the shaft when it comes to a full length review from me. While there are enjoyable elements to this third installment in the series, the movie is probably coming out three years too late. Too much time has past since The Mummy Returns and since then there have been too many other movie franchises created that are so much better. I liked the idea of a Chinese mummy, so the main plot worked for me. What I didn't care for was the advance in time so that the O'Connell's son is now in his twenties. It just looked silly and out of place. I was also not impressed with Rob Cohen taking over directing duties for Stephen Sommers. The movie looked really fake at times and most of the fighting scenes were edited poorly. Enough of the franchise remains that if you enjoyed the first two, you'll probably find enough to like here. But if you're new to the Mummy scene, this probably isn't worth your time. Overall, everyone is probably better off saving your money and just waiting until this comes out on the USA network (probably about a year from now, haha) Grade: B-

Traitor: This is the film that Body of Lies should have been. Once again, Muslims and the war on terror are used as the plot of a film, but this one is more intriguing and entertaining. Don Cheadle plays Samir Horn, an American muslim who has been recently linked with a terrorist organization that has been behind bombings all over the globe. Both Cheadle and Guy Pearce, playing an FBI agent investigating the bombings, give strong performances here. Unlike most films, I was still guessing through a large portion of the film as to where Samir's allegiances really lied. And even after that's revealed, the film still delivers some surprises that caught my off guard, something I can't say about a lot of movies. While a bit slow at times, this is a solid thriller that was mostly overlooked by American audiences when it came out last August. If you're looking for something in this genre, I'd highly recommend you give this a look. Grade: B+