The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

In ancient China, a warlord unites the country’s kingdoms into an empire and becomes the Dragon Emperor. He orders the construction of the Great Wall of China, where his enemies’ corpses are buried underneath the site, eventually learning power over the traditional Chinese Wuxing elements. The Emperor grows fearful that his death will end all he has accomplished and summons Zi Yuan, a sorceress said to know the secret of immortality. He sends her to an ancient monastery with his second-in-command and most trusted friend, General Ming, to find the long-lost Oracle Bones. They fall in love, though the Emperor lusts for the former. When he witnesses them consummating their relationship, the Emperor has Ming executed in retaliation after having Yuan perform the procedure and stabs her with a dagger. Having foreseen this event however, she immolates and imprisons the Emperor and his soldiers in clay, turning them into the Terracotta Army, and flees.

In 1946, Alex O’Connell, Rick and Evelyn O’Connell’s son, and his archaeology professor Roger Wilson locate the Emperor’s tomb. Though attacked by a mysterious woman, they bring the sarcophagus to Shanghai. The British government entrusts the O’Connells to take the Eye of Shangri-La gemstone back to China. They learn that Wilson works for a rogue military faction led by General Yang and his assistant, Colonel Choi, who provided the financial backing of Alex’s expedition. Yang believes the Emperor can lead China out of the chaos following World War II and plans to resurrect him using the Eye.