Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)

Rated PG for mild action and brief language.
105 Minutes

Directed By: Shawn Levy
Written By: Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Grant
Staring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Jon Bernthal, Alain Chabat, and Jake Cherry

Kah Mun Rah: Is that you breathing? Because I can’t hear myself think! There’s too much going on here; you’re asthmatic, you’re a robot. And why the cape? Are we going to the opera? I don’t think so.

Review

As shocked as I am to say it, I actually enjoyed this sequel more than the original.  There was adventure, excitement, magic, and comedy.  It’s charming concept carries on into this newer and bigger world of great characters from history and the world.  While telling a story that actually had some validity, I found myself laughing more than I do at outright comedies.  Battle Of The Smithsonian allowed the same events to transpire in a new and fresh atmosphere and make a really cool concept worth revisiting.

Night guard Larry Daley is now an incredibly successful entrepreneur and upon his return to the Museum of Natural History to visit his friends, where the exhibits that come to life at night, he learns that they are being shipped off into deep storage at the Smithsonian Institution.  The troublesome monkey steals the ancient Egyptian tablet that brings all the exhibits to life and the inevitable happens at the Smithsonian.  Larry must now find where exactly his friends are and stop what sounds like another angry Egyptian tyrant from taking over the museum or maybe even world.

Besides the great humor it was entertaining for both children and adults alike.  This is a family film that has true appeal to both sides of the age barrier.  It spout smart and witty jokes that were above kids heads but tons of slap stick and a relentless pace that kept the kids attention at all times.  The level of excitement and great introduction of new characters while still embracing what we loved about the old, this was a rare success of the sequel surpassing the original.

The special effects were not impressive.  Well, correction: the integration of special effects with live action was lazy.  It fell really flat as it was awkward and distracted from the flow of the movie, which was incredibly paced.  The detachment from live action andCGI characters made their interactions empty.  If more time had been spent on making the effects and live action fuse together, this movie would have been one of the best family movies I’ve seen in ages.

The collection of a fun and talented cast helped deliver.  Amy Adams was the highlight as Amelia Earhart.  Her charm out shined even Stiller and this is one of the few roles I really enjoy him in.  The best scene in the movie was in the previews, but the full version of himself and Jonah Hill was funny in epic proportions.  Returning characters and performances by HankAzaria, Steve Coogan, and Owen Wilson filled the movie with an overload of a lot of talent being displayed in it’s best form.

Night At The Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian was an enjoyable tale revisited and somehow super revamped in way that exceeded what was great about it’s predecessor.  Taken completely by surprise by how funny and exciting this movie actually was, it’s one that I’ll definitely buy for my kids, and one I will sit down and watch with them again and again.

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