Movie Review: Night at the Museum 2

I had heard that the first Night at the Museum movie was above average in terms of children’s movies, but it wasn’t until the buzz started for Night at the Museum 2: Something about the Smithsonian that I finally forced myself to check out the first film. And I was pleasantly surprised! So when the sequel came out, I figured it was worth seeing.

Now, I’m not a huge Ben Stiller fan, but one of the good things about this movie was that he was barely in it! I mean, he was still the main character, but he didn’t try to do any schtick and generally acted as a straight man. And when so many wacky things are going on, that’s just what he should be doing. Thank you writers!

In terms of casting, this sequel had more hits than misses. I loved Hank Azaria as the evil Egyptian king or something (he’s the bad guy), and Bill Hader did a surprisingly good job as General Custer, and I didn’t even mind Jonah Hill playing basically the same role he always plays. Christopher Guest played a character, but he didn’t really have any lines. Bummer. And then there’s Amy Adams, who plays the female lead, Amelia Earhart. I like the fact that, as opposed to the near-mute Pocahontas in the first film, this female character takes the lead in saving the day.

Downsides of the film series include a tendency to stick historical facts into the script in awkward ways. And even though I love Ricky Gervais, his character is just kind of annoying. And then there’s that damn monkey. At least in the first film he was genuinely threatening, creating countless obstacles for our hapless hero. But in this one, he barely does anything except get into a slapping fight with Ben Stiller. Oh, and some space monkey also joins in the slapping until you the viewer are slapping yourself for watching this film. But don’t worry, the slapping soon subsides, replaced by lots of other cameos and historical jokes.

Final notes: the art references were funny, the T-Rex is still annoying, and Owen Wilson’s character is still unnecessary and still seems ripped off from “The Indian in the Cupboard.” But in general, Night at the Museum 2 is not a bad time at the movies.