Rated PG for some mild rude humor and mild language.
Directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Cheaper by the Dozen and Big Fat Liar)
Starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson and Hank Azaria
Entertaining…but not as much as the first one.
It's a new “Night” and a new “Museum” for Ben Stiller. This time around he is joined by several familiar faces from the original film, as well as a few new characters from history. If you remember Larry Daley from the first Night at the Museum, you know success was not his forte. As the sequel opens, we see that he’s come a long way from the struggling single dad who is trying to provide for his son to the rolling-in-dough, Billy Mayes-style inventor/entrepreneur. Unfortunately, he’s so busy that he doesn’t have the time to sit-down with his son for dinner or to visit his old friends at the museum. When he finally does have time, he learns that almost all of the exhibits are being shipped to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum complex with more than 136 million items, ranging from the plane Amelia Earhart flew on her nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic to ancient kings…all of which are about to come to life.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian has its fair share of flaws, none bigger than the fact that this is your typical summer sequel. It has more words in the title, more stars, more special effects, more money…but less charm. This is a perfect example of a film that exists exclusively because its predecessor made a lot of money. And, like most movies that fit into that category, the filmmakers have been careful not to change the formula. The hope is that if you enjoyed the first one, you will love the sequel. Well, I loved the first one, but somehow felt this one wasn’t as good.
In fact, the two best scenes in the film are cameos by Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader and the other is a very funny scene with Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill.
Unfortunately if you have seen the trailer – you have seen the entire two scenes…sigh.
I love Ben Stiller, and I thought he was hilarious in the first film. He does slapstick and surprise with perfection; but the successful, been-there-done-that Larry is not even close to being as funny and likeable like the first time around.
On the other hand, this was a movie my entire family was able to see together. And while it wasn’t as good as the first one, it wasn’t bad by any stretch. There are some really cool special effects and a few laugh out loud moments (and I will say my kids laughed way more than I did).
All that being said, it gets a “Rental” because my kids loved it. I just can’t ignore the fact that as a family we enjoyed ourselves seeing the movie together. I say see it…just wait for the DVD!
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
I didn’t have any issues with the film and once again there are some very teachable moments in the film. It won’t take much for you to have some great conversations about honesty, friendship and doing the right thing.
