'Museum' sequel doesn't live up to its comic potential
Had this unpretentious, goofy comedy been directed by a Robert Zemeckis or a Steven Spielberg, and been written by a Seth Rogen or a John Hamburg, it would have been smart as well as mildly entertaining.
But "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" was directed by Shawn Levy, who gave us the vapid remakes of the classics "Cheaper By the Dozen" and "The Pink Panther." It was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, the team behind the sophomoric "Reno 911: Miami" and the lowbrow improv TV series it's based on.
So, we get a diverting, silly, special-effects comedy where characters such as Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein and Rodin's famous The Thinker solve conflicts not by actually thinking, but by easy displays of brute force and intimidation. Lincoln is a 60-kajillion-foot-high stone statue escaped from his Washington, DC, memorial, so it doesn't take much for him to intimidate people, even the wax kind.
"Battle" is the sequel to Levy's 2006 super hit "Night at the Museum" where night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) discovers that an ancient magic tablet brings all the exhibits to life at a New York museum after sundown. This knowledge comes in handy to bridge the generation gap between himself and his little son Nick (Jake Cherry).
In "Battle," the father-son subplot has been reduced to a hero/sidekick relationship with computer-whiz Nick (Cherry, again) helping Dad (Stiller, again) break into the Smithsonian to rescue his beloved exhibits - cowboy Jed (Owen Wilson, again), Roman Octavius (Steve Coogan, again) and the monkey - moved out of their New York home by conniving administrator Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais, again).
Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams, again) has been left behind, but Larry teams with new nocturnal buddies, including Amelia Earhart (a snappy Amy Adams channeling Katharine Hepburn) and General Custer (Bill Hader).
They square off against the villainous Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria, doing Boris Karloff with a lisp) who seeks to use the tablet's power to take over the world with help from a black-and-white Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) and Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat).
"Battle" cranks up the cleverness factor in throwaway moments when famous paintings and sculptures come to life. (A comic bit with Life magazine's famous 1945 photo of a U.S. sailor kissing a nurse on Times Square is a hoot.) The best part of "Battle" occurs early on when Larry confronts a zealous security guard (an uncredited Jonah Hill), who engages in the kind of snappy repartee that should have characterized the entire movie. ("I thought we lived in a free country," Larry says. "No," the guard replies, "it's the United States of Don't Touch That Thing Right in Front of You.")
With Alan Silvestri's adventuresome score whipping up a much-needed element of grandeur, "Battle" almost transcends a superficial, silly family comedy.
But then, it doesn't.
Note: Stick around during the closing credits for a joke about a prominent Schaumburg company.
"Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"
Rating: 2 stars
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Other: A 20th Century Fox release. Rated PG. 105 minutes.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=294956">Monkey co-star, costumes challenge 'Night' actors <span class="date">[05/21/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>