A lack of discipline and a desire to appeal to the lowest common denominator have wreaked havoc on a decent cast and a great idea, almost burying the outstanding effects. It's a flimsy rescue story.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
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Reviews Counted:158
Fresh:69
Rotten:89
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian is busy enough to keep the kids interested but the slapstick goes overboard and the special effects (however well executed) throw the production into mania.
Australian Theatrical Release:
May 21, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $177,118,775
Synopsis: Shawn Levy (CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, JUST MARRIED) directs the sequel of his hit film NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. Night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), now a successful entrepreneur, returns to the Museum... Shawn Levy (CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, JUST MARRIED) directs the sequel of his hit film NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. Night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), now a successful entrepreneur, returns to the Museum of Natural History to visit his friends--the exhibits that come to life at night--only to learn that they are being shipped off into deep storage at the Smithsonian Institution. To make matters worse, the exhibits at the Smithsonian, including the pharaoh Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), are suddenly coming to life--and they aren’t at all happy about their new visitors. Determined to save his friends, Larry rushes to Washington, D.C., and makes his way into the inner workings of the largest museum complex in the world while Kahmunrah recruits the likes of Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), Napoleon (Alain Chabat), and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal). Larry, meanwhile, finds himself with spunky Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) as a co-conspirator and love interest, and General Custer (Bill Hader) leading the battle for the Smithsonian. The stakes are higher in this sequel, where even the paintings on the Smithsonian walls come to life at night. Stiller is his capable deadpan self as the now-successful Larry who finds purpose again while helping his friends, and Adams is spot-on as feisty, adventure-seeking Earhart, complete with period lingo. Azaria is a scene-stealer as Kahmunrah, who is menacing despite his lisp. Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Robin Williams, and Ricky Gervais also reprise their roles in this sequel, which is the first film to be shot at the Smithsonian. [More]
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robin Williams, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Jon Bernthal
Director: Shawn Levy
Director: Shawn Levy
Screenwriter: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Producer: Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Composer: Alan Silvestri
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The two short scenes that bring British comic Ricky Gervais into the movie as the stuffy museum administrator suggest the possibility of a third movie... A decent script surely is needed before that's given the go-ahead.
The Toy Story-esque plot could be written on the femur of dormouse and some scenes still lean towards inanity. But, in the main, this is a funnier and more coherent slice of kids' entertainment.
Never less than politely entertaining, but often misses its huge targets.
When Night at the Museum 2 sticks to its preferred brand of high-jinks, it delivers upon its promise of plenty of throwaway fun for the all-ages crowd.
All up it's Levy's best work so far and while I realise that's faint praise, it's far from being damning.
This rushed Smithsonian visit skims over laughs and excitement to cram in more museum paraphernalia and messages. Like the original but bigger and faster, it’s harmless but throwaway.
The paradox of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is that a movie so bursting with novelty can feel so utterly familiar.
The plot of this film feels like a garage sale jigsaw puzzle: its pieces out of order, warped and shoved into places they don't go with a few extra pieces thrown into the box.
I know not every person is going to agree with me on this one, but I'm going to say it anyway: Azaria's lisping Kahmunrah is one of the most annoying and unfunny characters that has ever appeared on a movie screen.
It's lazy stuff, a waste of a big name cast in the service of a film that is little more than a boring virtual museum tour.
Compared with the wit and humour of any Pixar movie or Aardman feature this is shoddy stuff.
How can one movie contain Ricky Gervais, Hank Azaria, Steve Coogan, Amy Adams, Christopher Guest, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Jay Baruchel and Craig Robinson while offering so very little in the way of laughs?
This is a throwback to those disreputable 70s comedies that found a spot for every unemployed layabout in Hollywood.
a scattergun trawl through human (albeit mostly American) history and culture, with the emphasis more on entertainment than instruction.
In bringing history, literally, to life, and having as much fun with it as it is computer-graphically possible to have, director Shawn Levy and Reno 911 writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon at least make [Museum] worth noticing.
Latest News for Night at the Museum: Battle of the...
May 26, 2009:
Tune In to the Rotten Tomatoes Show This Week!
This week, The Rotten Tomatoes Show will be looking at the movies that opened over the weekend, with help from you (the Rotten Tomatoes community), the Current TV community, and... More...
May 25, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Museum Terminates Salvation
Fox won the holiday battle of the sequels as the adventure comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian debuted at number one over the long Memorial Day frame easily... More...
May 22, 2009:
Review Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum 2, and Dance Flick on TV!
Did you miss last night's episode of the Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV? Watch it online here for slam-bang reviews of last weekend's Angels & Demons, The Brothers Bloom,... More...
May 21, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Terminator, Night Are So-So Sequels
This week at the movies, we've got deadly machines (Terminator Salvation, starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington); historical hysterics (Night at the Museum: Battle of the... More...
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