When The Mummy was released back in the summer of 1999, it faced a three-way blockbuster bout with The Matrix and Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. A sly supernatural period fantasy, with its narrative flimsiness papered over by flailing CGI, it took over $400m dollars worldwide, with a sequel - The Mummy Returns - following two years later. There were even more quibbles over that movie's quality but, having earned $450m, Universal weren't complaining.

This year, six years on from the unofficial third film in the series, The Scorpion King (terrible reviews, a paltry $150m), The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor has the chance to outdo the franchise that the Mummy films are obviously styled after: Indiana Jones. As with Speilberg's latest, the action has shifted forward - this time to Shanghai in 1946. Rick O'Connel (Brendan Fraser), his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello, standing in for original actress Rachel Weisz), and their 22-year-old-son Alex (Australian newcomer Luke Ford) find themselves battling against an evil Emperor (Jet Li) and his 10,000-strong Terracotta Army (magically awoken from their 2,000-year-old slumber).

Taking over from director Stephen Sommers is reliable pro Rob Cohen, who, despite his a calming influence at the centre of the Dragon Emperor set's dizzying scale...

"When I was sent the script an it mentioned China and the Terracotta Army of Sian, I was intrigued," he says, stepping outside the cave. "I don't do sequels to my own movies - let alone to Stephen Sommers' - but I have a deep love of Asian culture. It's fascinating. When you see those Terracotta Army figures, you feel the grip across the millenia from real people to you. You can see their personalities - whether they're happy, mad, sullen or introspective."