Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Review by Jason Gaston

 

I wasn’t what you would call a huge fan of Night at the Museum and really went to go watch the sequel just so I could have something to complain about.

I'm an American.  Don't ask, it's just what we do.

Lo and behold, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a better move than the first and is actually approaching a level I would call… entertaining?

Picking up a few years after the first Night at the Museum, Larry Daley (played by Ben Stiller) has left his night guard job at the Museum of Natural History to start his own business. One day, during one of his increasingly rare visits to the place, Larry is dismayed to discover that old exhibits are packed up and shipped off to the Smithsonian for storage, replaced by new interactive holograms. Larry then heads off to Washington to bring his friends back.

At the Smithsonian, the tablet brings an evil Egyptian to life who intends to use the tablet to bring an army of undead soldiers out of the underworld to take over the Earth. Larry tries to stop him and is joined by a Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams).  Together, they  look for a way to unlock the secrets of the tablet as well as defeat the bad guy and save all of Larry's stuffed friends.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian isn’t a movie that will win any Oscars or even any MTV Movie Awards or whatever the hell kids give out to shiny things that grab their attention like a set of jingling keys, but it is one of those rare sequels that improves on the original.   Granted, that wasn't an enormously hard thing to do, but given my low expectations, I was happy anyway.

As a soon to be parent, I can say that I appreciated the use of historical figures in this movie and the way it was quasi-educational. As someone who is a fan of sketch shows, I appreciate the way that the actors genuinely seemed to have the most fun possible. It just looks like a set that would be a blast to be on and it shows in the movie.

Amy Adams as Amelia Erhard and Hank Azaria as the evil Egyptian prince steal the show. Adams is a peppy fast-mouthed firecracker and Azaria is just funny as hell as a spoiled and lisping prince.

All in all, I think the kids will love this one and, although the adults might be bored, it won't be anywhere near as boring as a Hannah Montana movie. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian literally throws everything at the wall: history, hijinks, art, and slapstick and, surprisingly, much of it sticks. This is an improvement over the awful first movie and, as someone who wasn’t expecting to enjoy it, I’m surprised and delighted by this lighthearted fare.

If only all sequels were this much of an improvement.