A computer-generated cretin steers a chariot of fire-eyed horses dodging fireworks. It drags determined adventurers trying to claw their way up from the cobblestones. The camera is shaky, the audio assaultive as a ninja does a back flip, Brendan Fraser shouts a pun and somebody somewhere says "Imhotep."

Did an "Indiana Jones" movie merge with an Asian martial-arts film like chocolate and peanut butter during an earthquake? No — you're watching another "Mummy" sequel.

The third in the series, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (that's "M3: TDE" for nerds), retools its formula by changing villains (an ancient terra cotta emperor), locations (China) and its lead actress (facetious babe Maria Bellow replaces baby-faced Rachel Weisz). Even the director is new, with franchise creator Stephen Sommers handing the chariot reins to Rob Cohen ("The Fast and the Furious"), who matches his precursor's sloppy edit by kung-fu-choppy edit.

By no means good, this "Mummy" will still amuse those who got wrapped up in the previous amusement-park whirls. Well-plotted by writing team Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the convoluted story line is comprehensible to even the crunchiest popcorn chomper. It starts with an ancient Chinese secret (a power-mad emperor is cursed and buried with his army, moves on to a Calgon bath (raised from the dead, he seeks eternal life in a Shangri La fountain of youth), and ends with a desert full of clay warriors — a fierce Terra-Cotta Army versus a scrappy Pottery Barn Special. At least the film has commercial appeal.

Chasing the emperor are Fraser and Bello, husband and wife who bring along their playboy-anthropologist son (Luke Ford) for a dysfunctional family outing that echoes the Harrison Ford/Karen Allen/Shia LaBeouf trio in this summer's "Indy" flick. This leads to everything from, yes, a group hug to the film's best of many bad lines: "Hey, mom, I'm sorry I blamed you guys for raising the emperor." Director Cohen unfurls such dorky dialogue fast and furious, with groaners like "I guess mummies bring out the best in me," mitigated by occasional gems such as, "Next time I say, 'We've been in worse scrapes than this,' I mean this." Or is it the other way around?

The buffoonish brood has a more serious-style parallel in celebrated Chinese actors Jet Li (the fire-breathing, shape-shifting emperor), Michelle Yeoh (as a good witch of the Far East) and her dauntless daughter, Isabella Leong, who becomes a challenging love interest for the son — "You guard tombs. I raid 'em," he explains. Romance is in the Himalayan air: Even sidekick John Hannah, reprising his comic-relief role from the previous films, gets to double up with a yak.

The best thing about "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" can be summed up in one word: Yetis. Always good in a pinch, these white-haired cat-monkeys give the movie the unpredictable goosing it needs. Who knew abominable snowmen made such good pets? Called upon for help during a battle, the Yetis shield their human friends from avalanches and kick bad guys through scaffolding like football players making field goals. "The Mummy" scores points with heroes and villains who are equally matched.

It's a shame so much else in the film has been done before: the hail of arrows blackening the sky, the booby-trapped vaults that shoot spears and acid, and story points that touch on everything from "Dracula" to "Pirates of the Caribbean" to the 1940s swing-dancing club in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Mummy out if you must, but after two hours expect to sympathize with the character that says, "I've seen enough mummies to last a lifetime."

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." Rated: PG-13. Running time: 1 hour, 52 minutes. 2 stars.

To find out more about Zachary Woodruff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.