There’s no simpler way to put it: the first “Night at the Museum”, which came out in 2006, was fun and entertaining. This sequel is the exact opposite.
In “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” Ben Stiller is back as Larry Daley, the night watchman in the first film who quit his job after becoming a successful businessman. He returns on a visit to the Museum of Natural History to find out that most of his friends are being shipped-off from NYC to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
Soon Larry finds out that the magical Egyptian tablet that brings all the museum pieces to life has been stolen and so he goes to D.C. to try to save the day.
“Battle of the Smithsonian” lacks all of the humor and charm of the first film. And, obviously, the originality of the first one is gone because this one’s a sequel. Yes, there are some new characters, including Amelia Earhart (played by Amy Adams) and Kahmunrah, the main villain (over-played by Hank Azaria), but they aren’t interesting enough to make the story work.
And this is supposed to be a comedy. I may have laughed 3-times during the entire movie when I saw it in the theater. There are long stretches where there’s a lot of things happening on screen, but it’s simply boring. I was in my own battle: fighting to stay awake!
No need to discuss the DVD extras – they don’t help make this worth watching.
“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is rated PG for some mild violence. It’s appropriate for kids 6 and up and everyone who saw the first one will want to see it. Younger kids may like all the animals in the film and the tween girls can hear some Jonus Brothers songs, but everyone else will have a hard time getting through this trip to a museum.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” gets a D+.
It’s clearly one of my biggest disappointment of the year.