Special Movie Review - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian


Ben Stiller and company had a smattering of success with 2006's Night at the Museum. The formula - take a night guard and put him face to face with a museum full of living, breathing antiquities - was cute and adventurous, and full of enough kiddy humor to warrant taking the tykes, as well as having an adult appeal. Stiller and director Shawn Levy are back again for museum mayhem, but this time they move to a new location, as evident in the title.

With a host of familiar characters returning from the first Museum film, fans of the films will find themselves slipping back into the world that Stiller's character Larry Daley inhabits. It's less confusing if you've seen the first film, but newcomers to the series won't have a hard time getting into the thick of the plot - there's a helpful introduction to characters at the start of the movie. Essentially, the artifacts at the Museum of Natural History, where Daley had worked as night security guard in the first film, are being moved to the archives of the Smithsonian Institute, where they will cease to become alive at night without the help of a magical Egyptian stone. Daley is called to help the displays when one of the figures steals the stone and all of the antiques in the Smithsonian Institute come to life, including villains such as Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), Napoleon (Alain Chabat), Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), and Al Capone (Al Bernthal). Kahmunrah wants the Egyptian stone to open a portal to take over the world, and it's up to Daley to stop him, along with new friends such as Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and the statue of Abe Lincoln and old buddies Jedidiah (Owen Wilson) and Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams).

The main plot is set up fairly quickly, allowing for the film to develop more subplots throughout the near-two hour runtime. Though it seems long for a kids' film, the story moves along at a nice clip and rarely loses its adventurous appeal. Also, the plot is logical without becoming too generic or predictable, and even offers up its fair share of pleasant surprises like a quick and appealing love interest between Daley and Amelia Earhart.

The playful, adventurous nature of the film will attract both old and young viewers, which is a good thing because there's a lot of content that will interest both age groups. For the young ones, it's an educational trip through time, with throwbacks to famous historical lines and people that may fly over their heads; yet some allusions might trigger an "oh-yeah!" reaction within that adds intelligence to the film.

Stiller plays his part well, and is actually a bit more likable as Daley this time around. The stand-outs are Amy Adams as Earhart and Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah. Adams' cute and bubbly personality, her impressive recital of old-fashioned lingo, and her wide-open eyes add so much to the film that her character almost overpowers the bland Daley. Azaria's Kahmunrah is a lispy, power-craving Egyptian who spouts witty one-liners with ease and, in the end, becomes a tragic villain almost, as his humorous, over-the-top persona brings him closer to the viewer. There's a cast of familiar faces, though, each with their own unique addition to the film, and it's nice to see cameos from a lot of The Office stars.

Perhaps one of the qualms with NatM:BotS that I have is the humor; the film resorts to a lot of scenes with awkward dialogues between characters, and while funny, the formula is overused and tired here. The physical gags are semi-funny, but still don't add a lot to the comedy. Instead, it's best to go into the film thinking of it less as a comedy and more as an adventure - otherwise, it may come up short on laughs, at least for adults.

Yet Battle of the Smithsonian is a smart and practical film, using the strengths from the first film and building off of its new setting. In fact, the film uses the wide range of the Smithsonian Institute to its advantage, allowing the characters to travers new areas and expanding what it can do with characters and the displays within the museums. There's a lot to enjoy within the film, and this is definitely one that you'll want to see with the kiddies; there's education, action without much violence, and even a little bit of good-hearted love, and Adams' Earhart character attracts the child in all of us.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian at Rotten Tomatoes