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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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121 - 140 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Busy is not the same as clever.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
05/21/09
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

...most notable for the inventive new touches added which prove amusing diversions to the dull central throughline...It's kind of like the movie equivalent of a toddler's busy box.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
05/21/09
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

[Levy is] successful enough, in fact, that kids may well pass on their next chance to see a movie -- just so they can visit a real museum, instead.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/21/09
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

A dreadfully unfunny comedy, which is amazing considering all the comic talent in the cast.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
05/21/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

It's bigger, noisier, shinier, and dumber, and it has no earthly reason to exist.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment 1 Comment
05/21/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

If there's one thing that a movie-going Mom or Dad understands, it's the look in the eyes of someone who's just going through the motions, and there's a lot of that going on in Night 2.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
05/21/09
Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson
Philadelphia Daily News

There is so much going on here, presented in such uninspired empty-calorie servings, that you grow bloated on the unending eye candy

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
05/21/09
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a more enriching experience, and it features Joan Of Arc as an aerobics instructor.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
05/21/09
Scott Tobias
Scott Tobias
AV Club

It never quite finds its comic footing, but kids will probably love it--they might even learn a thing or two.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
05/21/09
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Overstuffed with gimmicks, but short on charm and creativity.

Full Review Source: Giant Magazine | comment Comment
05/21/09
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Giant Magazine

Even Ben Stiller looks bored out of his mind.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
05/21/09
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

It's not a bad movie. Just an unnecessary one.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
05/21/09
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

When this excessive and silly farce works -- roughly half the time -- it's thanks to the comic dynamic created by funny folk who can go riff-to-riff with Stiller.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
05/21/09
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

The cheeky attitude and charming effects make it more entertaining than the original, notwithstanding some clumsy humans who almost break the spell.

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
05/21/09
Joe Williams
Joe Williams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

What follows is less a story than a series of semi-clever ideas.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/21/09
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

Smithsonian only occasionally lives up to its wondrous, chaotic premise. Instead the film appears more delighted with tiresome improvisational acrobatics than generating a welcoming tidal wave of wonder.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
05/21/09
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

Ben Stiller's comic setpiece interludes provide the best laughs - his encounter with a goofy, officious security guard called Brandon is particularly good.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
05/21/09
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

click to read the full review

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
05/21/09
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

Bloated with visual effects.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/21/09
Andrea Gronvall
Andrea Gronvall
Chicago Reader

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?

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 5 Comments
05/21/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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