Movie Reviews

REVIEW – NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN

8 out of 10

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the sequel to 2006’s smash, comedy hit is just as good as the first.  Many sequels tend to be the same movie with a bigger budget, but Smithsonian escapes that trap and tells a completely different story than the original.  Smithsonian also manages to come up with fresh comedy rather than retread all the funny moments of the original, although some of the better bits do pop up again; the slap fight between Stiller and the monkey comes to mind.

The set up for the film is pretty simple.  Stiller’s Larry Daley has left his perch as night guard of the museum and is now living his dream as a successful inventor.  One night he goes to visit his old friends at the museum, only to find that the museum is being updated and most of the current displays are being shipped out to be archived at the Smithsonian.  The next day, Larry receives a phone call from Lilliputian cowboy, Jedediah (the ever reliable Owen Wilson), who tells him that they are in trouble and need help.  Larry races to the Smithsonian to help his friends and the fun and wackiness begins.  There are plenty of new characters to keep audiences laughing such as The Thinker, some cupids and a giant octopus, not to mention Abraham Lincoln and a brief cameo from Darth Vader.  The most notable new characters are Amelia Earhart played by the supremely talented Amy Adams, the always funny Hank Azaria as the villainous, Egyptian pharaoh, Kahmunrah (he also voices The Thinker and Honest Abe) and SNL member, Bill Hader as General Custer.  Hader is quite charming in this role and my gut tells me he will be the next big movie star to emerge from SNL and walk on a path well traveled by the likes of Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy before him.

Director Shawn Levy does a great job of keeping the film breezy and entertaining, while also imbuing the Smithsonian with a sense of awe and beauty, using wide shots to capture all of the magic of the museums many wonderful exhibits.  There is one sequence in particular where Larry and Amelia encounter famous painting and photos that have sprung to life and they actually walk into a famous black and white photo from WW II.  All in all, with Smithsonian, Levy has established himself as a sure handed filmmaker who handles comedy, action and special effects with equal aplomb.

To sum it up, Battle of the Smithsonian is a funny, original, special effects bonanza that is perfect for the whole family.

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About Author

Bill Bonfanti is FilmGo.net’s movie critic and Box office analyst. Every week you will find new reviews and box office predictions for the current crop of films in the theater.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.