Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (review)

Rating: 3/5 Worth watching

Museums can be fun, but too much of that fun can get old real quick.

This movie just never quite settles on what it wants to be and because of that it becomes tiresome quickly. It plays like a selection of comedy skits tied together by a thin strand of plot. This would be alright if they let these comedians do what they do best. Instead they chain up this talented cast and force them into childish banter and slapstick humor.

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has done pretty well for himself since we saw him last. He now owns a company that produces and sells his inventions. He's become so successful in fact that he didn't realize the exhibits, which come to life at night, that he used to interact with and protect, are being moved, from the New York Museum of Natural History, into national storage below the Smithsonian. Daley decides not to worry about it until he finds out that all his old friends are in trouble because they brought the magic tablet that brings them to life with them, thus bringing the entire Smithsonian archives to life. So Daley heads to Washington D.C. to help his friends stop the nefarious Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), a lisping Egyptian Pharaoh who has plans to use the tablet to raise an army of the dead and take over the world. To stop the Pharaoh, and help his friends get back to New York, Daley is helped by his old friends Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan), as well as new recruits Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), General Custer (Bill Hader), and a giant Abe Lincoln (voiced by Azaria).

Like all good museums, this one has it's share of prize pieces that stand out. Amy Adams is captivating as usual, even though her character is a constant clash between flirty temptress and empowered feminist. The score is beautiful but a bit excessive and over-dramatic for this particular movie. There are a ton of bit parts and cameos that actually stand above the major roles (the hype-man for the Tuskegee airmen, Jonah Hill as an over protective Smithsonian security guard, and a collection of Einstein bobble heads). Some of the mid-level roles (Jedediah and Octavius) are very well done and this film could have benefited by giving these characters more screen time. A lot of the pieces of history are neat to see come to life, even if some of them are not in the Smithsonian, or even on this continent for that matter.

I just didn't think these bright spots outweigh the faults of this film. Many of the jokes go on far past their saturation point. The plot twist just seem forced. Some of the characters seem like they were brought in for no other reason then a quick laugh. The action sequences have little or no passion. Overall, the movie just never quite settles on what it's trying to do or say.

I realize that I'm not exactly the target demographic for this film and that's the only thing that keeps it off a 2/5 rating in my book. Kids may enjoy it but don't expect them to learn much.


Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian at IMDB
105 minutes
Rated PG for mild action and brief language.

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