The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor **

Impressive and inventive special effects, which often inform and advance the story, interrupt a silly narrative, tedium and bad acting in this third edition of the Mummy franchise. After many years, with an adventurous son digging in tombs just like his famous dad, you might think you've stumbled into another franchise. But this, alas, is no Indiana Jones adventure.

This time, shortly after World War II, the miraculously preserved O'Connells (the affable Brendan Fraser and a truly awful Maria Bello) are bored with English country life and ready to go to China to deliver a precious artifact to the Shanghai Museum. What they don't know is that their son, a quite bland Luke Ford, has unearthed the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) and brought him to Shanghai.

We know from a backstory narration the story of this Emperor. As a wise man truly said, when a screen writer dies, he becomes a narrator. For an enlightening object lesson, see the first 20 minutes of WALL-E, where, with no narration and virtually no dialog, you get a clear idea of what is going on and what must have happened. Here, any dialog is a segue to a fight scene, a perilous escape, or a magnificent special-effects battle.

For special effects and fight fans, which I know are legion, this movie will satisfy. Also fans of really loud, bombastic music. Others may lament the wasted effort and talent, and the prominent lack of directing skill that make this movie explode like a box of fireworks and then vanish, like its warring armies, in a cloud of dust, like it was never there.

Rated PG-13. 112 minutes. Rob Cohen - Director, Alfred Gough - Writer, Miles Millar - Writer, Sean Daniel - Producer, Bob Ducsay - Producer, James Jacks - Producer, Stephen Sommers - Producer, Simon Duggan - Cinematographer, Randy Edelman - Composer, Nigel Phelps - Production Designer, Kelly Matsumoto - Editor, Joel Negron - Editor. Distributed by Universal Pictures.

Principal actors: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Wong, Luke Ford, and Isabella Leong.