Japan premiere for Mummy movie

Updated 14.00 Tue Aug 05 2008
Keywords: jet li, the emperor, brendan fraser, japan, michelle yeoh, the mummy

The third instalment of the Mummy series has premiered in Japan and coincided with the birthday of one of the film's stars, Michelle Yeoh.

Yeoh, 45, plays a significant role in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which is about adventurer Rick O'Connell, played by Brendan Fraser, who seems to always run afoul of power-hungry Mummies.

"She (Zi) was so much about being one with the world and Mother Nature and there was a certain amount of understanding in her that you could see behind her eyes" - Michelle Yeoh

In this latest chapter in the film's mythology, Yeoh portrays a Chinese sorceress, Zi Yuan, who puts a curse on an ancient emperor, only to see him rise from the dead after 2,000 years to seek vengeance.

Zi is one of a group of people, including O'Connell, who must put the emperor back in his grave, and she uses not only her fists, but her wits and poise, to vanquish the nefarious spectre.

Yeoh said: "It's a small, but important role.

"She (Zi) was so much about being one with the world and Mother Nature and there was a certain amount of understanding in her that you could see behind her eyes."

Yeoh rose to prominence in Hong Kong action flicks, and she gained wide recognition from audiences in Europe and the US as a Bond girl in 1997's 007 spy flick, Tomorrow Never Dies.

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