Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers (WGA):

Robert Ben Garant (written by) &
Thomas Lennon (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 May 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

When the lights go off the battle is on.

Plot:

Security guard Larry Daley infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, who have been shipped to the museum by mistake. |

Plot Keywords:

Security Guard | Museum | Angel | Al Capone | Astronomer

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ben Stiller	...	Larry Daley
Amy Adams	...	Amelia Earhart
Owen Wilson	...	Jedediah
Hank Azaria	...	Kahmunrah / The Thinker / Abe Lincoln
Robin Williams	...	Teddy Roosevelt
Christopher Guest	...	Ivan The Terrible
Alain Chabat	...	Napoleon
Steve Coogan	...	Octavius
Ricky Gervais	...	Dr. McPhee
Bill Hader	...	General Custer
Jon Bernthal	...	Al Capone
Patrick Gallagher	...	Attila The Hun
Jake Cherry	...	Nick Daley
Rami Malek	...	Ahkmenrah
Mizuo Peck	...	Sacajawea

Also Known As:

Night at the Museum 2 (Australia) (Singapore: English title) (UK) (USA) (working title)
Another Night (USA) (working title)
Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian (USA) (working title)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild action and brief language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44999) | South Korea:All | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-7 (re-rating after appeal) | Ireland:PG | Norway:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Portugal:M/6 | Brazil:Livre | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:7 | Hong Kong:I | Iceland:L | Mexico:A | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Japan:G | Australia:PG | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Mammoth Studios, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Additional comic relief is added in the German version due to the fact that the Einsteins are dubbed by Jean Pütz, a famous science journalist and TV host.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the first Night at the Museum film, it was explained that at sunrise, anything that gets left outside the museum after being brought to life turns to dust. In the second film, the statue of Abraham Lincoln sits outside, so technically at sunrise after being brought to life, the statue should turn to dust. However, as the statue of Lincoln was inside its enclosure at dawn, the statue would not turn to dust, as it was technically "inside".

Quotes:

Kah Mun Rah: I am Kah Mun Rah, the great king of the great kings, and from the darkest depths of ancient history. I have come back to life!
Larry Daley: [Awkwardly] Uh-huh.
Kah Mun Rah: Perhaps you did not hear what I just said. I am a centuries-old Egyptian Pharaoh. I was dead, but now I have come back to life!
Larry Daley: Yeah, no. I heard that. I got that. Welcome back.

Movie Connections:

References Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Soundtrack:

I Only Have Eyes for You

Poorly manufactured sequel that stays bearable with a few good characters

The first "Night at the Museum" worked despite conventions for a few reasons, but the main one was that it eased into its premise of museum exhibits coming to life and didn't take it for granted like "Night of the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian" does. I'm actually surprised the writers of the first film wrote this sequel, because Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant handle these characters like they're someone else's creation and they can butcher them all they want.

"Night at the Museum 2" sucks the magic out of the original and overdoses on characters as well as meandering sarcasm and awkward humor. Save some bright spots in character acting from a delightful and plucky Amy Adams and some bright spots from Hank Azaria and Christopher Guest, "Smithsonian" will disappoint most defenders of the first film -- except kids and anyone else who'll bite on an outrageous premise.

Ben Stiller stars again as Larry Daley, only our beloved night security guard has randomly become a mastermind of As Seen on TV products. That decision alone completely destroys the continuity between this film and the last, forcing Larry's story to be something totally different than the single dad trying to be a role model for his son. Now son is hacking into the Smithsonian Institute floor plans to direct his dad to the location of the tablet that brings things to life at night. See the Museum of Natural History is going digital and all the beloved characters of the first film are shipped to the national archives in DC, only that naughty monkey brought the tablet with him and so the Smithsonian has come to life.

Our source of conflict is the Pharaoh at the Smithsonian, Kahmunrah, played by Azaria doing his best Stewie Griffin impression, who wants the tablet to unleash his army, so he gets help from Napoleon, Ivan the Terrible (Guest) and young Al Capone. At least director Shawn Levy realized the asset they had in Azaria and had him voice a couple other key statues that come to life later on. Azaria's too good for this film, really, but he plays at its level instead of pushing it and even manages a few of the better laughs when he puts a major diss on Darth Vader.

Then there's Amy Adams, the lone diamond in a sea of forced comedy and excessive cameos. It might seem like loving Adams is the "it" thing, but she brings the imaginative spirit sorely lacking in the film as Amelia Earheart. Every time she speaks it literally feels like the film gets more believable because she's such a convincing spirit. She also gets to work her best Katherine Hepburn impression to boot.

But "Smithsonian" is more defined by its disappointments and synthetic sequel material. Lennon and Garant try and include too many characters between the old ones and the new ones and the film just feels chaotic. It's like a contest to see how many new ideas of different things they can bring to life from paintings and photos on the wall to historical monuments in DC.

Worst of all, it's completely rushed. Understood that we get the coming-to-life premise and we aren't going to be surprised by it, but they take all the fun out of it. Levy figures a shot a piece of the statues of Amelia and Bill Hader's Col. Custer are adequate foreshadow, but they're not. Daley just cons his way into the archives and the story rockets right into the Smithsonian with a few quick facts about what it is to provide context.

"Night at the Museum 2" does just about everything we used to be terrified of sequels doing in the '90s -- overdoing it and diverting from the core values that won some love for the original because that film wasn't just about things coming to life.

~Steven C

http://moviemusereviews.com