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Movies / Upcoming / Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

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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 Rating: TBC

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Comedies

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

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Reviews for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Night at the Museum 2 is a fistful of family fun... brimming with amusing lines, great effects and a series of smart cameo performances.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
05/22/09
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

A great adventure for all age groups.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
05/22/09
Sun Online

This is designed to appeal to attention-deficit youngsters but will irritate or exhaust more discerning cinephiles.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
05/22/09
Karl French
Karl French
Financial Times

It's still strictly insufferable.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
05/22/09
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Has the kind of laughs that might convince you that nothing is as bad as it seems: the movie is no masterpiece but if you could plug its good nature into the national grid you could probably keep Birmingham alight for a month.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
05/22/09
Andrew O'Hagan
Andrew O'Hagan
This is London

Add some gags with living paintings and photos, and the return of that monkey, and this museum is certainly worth the price of admission.

Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | comment Comment
05/22/09
Andrew Osmond
Andrew Osmond
SFX Magazine

Entertaining sequel that survives its paper-thin plot and lazy writing thanks to superb special effects and a trio of terrific comic performances.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
05/22/09
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

There's a slightly out-of-control atmosphere that makes this corny romp much more entertaining than the original

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/22/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

This is a solid, if unspectacular, second effort, that retreads the material from the first film with a slightly bigger budget.

Full Review Source: News of the World | comment Comment
05/22/09
Robbie Collin
Robbie Collin
News of the World

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.

Full Review Source: Scotsman | comment Comment
05/22/09
Alistair Harkness
Alistair Harkness
Scotsman

An exhilarating, imaginative sequel filled with humor, excitement, wit and a lively cast. It's genuinely delightful and fun for everyone young and old.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
05/22/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

You know how it goes: the plot is inane, but a lot of the dialogue makes you laugh.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
05/21/09
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
Cinematical

Remains consistent with the all-powerful Amy Adams Rule, which holds that any movie featuring her is instantly, vastly improved because of it.

Full Review Source: Critic's Notebook | comment Comment
05/21/09
Robert Levin
Robert Levin
Critic's Notebook

It falls flat trying to muster up any mirth or suspense as it barrels from one set piece to the next.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/21/09
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

What's hugely-talented Amy Adams doing in an imbecilic debacle like this?

Full Review Source: Tolucan Times | comment Comment
05/21/09
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times

Amy Adams, spunky and incandescent as Amelia Earhart, is so fun to watch that she almost makes up for the dopeyness surrounding her.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
05/21/09
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Whatever its flaws may be, it at least refuses to be a stiff, lifeless relic.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
05/21/09
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com

The sweet spot between action and inspired silliness.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment Comment
05/21/09
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet

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.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/21/09
Betsy Sharkey
Betsy Sharkey
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Perhaps it should have been titled either Night at the Museum: We're Doing It for the Money or Night at the Museum: Contractually Obligated Sequel, instead.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/21/09
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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