All up it's Levy's best work so far and while I realise that's faint praise, it's far from being damning.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
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Reviews Counted:31
Fresh:12
Rotten:19
Average Rating:5.2/10
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
The result is pretty much a free-form traffic jam in which everyone fights everyone else.
Marvel at the movie's cheerful idiocy, which seems definitive -- even though the summer season has just begun -- and at the efficiency with which the filmmakers have dumbed down a dumb premise of proven success.
Pleasant, innocuous and intermittently thrilling family entertainment.
The paradox of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is that a movie so bursting with novelty can feel so utterly familiar.
Unlike most sequels, this “bigger, busier” strategy pays off, resulting in a romp that’s as affable as it is inventive.
This is a throwback to those disreputable 70s comedies that found a spot for every unemployed layabout in Hollywood.
Like too many sequels, more money and fewer ideas has made for a disappointing film.
It's not so much a movie as a series of running antiquity gags, good for a comedy club, not so much for the multiplex.
Watching historical figures enact the cliches identified with the most simplistic versions of their images, I found myself yet once again echoing the frequent cry of Gene Siskel: Why not just give us a documentary of the same actors having lunch?
Bigger, longer, and even more chaotically crowded (more stars! more f/x!) than its predecessor, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian proves that adding another ring doesn't make for a better circus.
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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