As probably the best installment in the series--slightly passing up the first film--Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb gives us much of what we desired from its predecessors--a long awaited clarification of the tablets "rules". It's as though the filmmakers listened to and abided by the critics' recommendations. And while having its fair share of minor plot holes also, this new movie clears up a lot of gaping ones from the first two films.
While not perfect, it's even funnier than the first and even makes you tear up. They also give Larry a new obstacle to face--growing tensions with his dependence-seeking son.
This film includes much of what we were lacking in the mediocre 2nd movie--an element of surprise and wonder, a good twist, less characters, and an acceptable inner-conflict for the main protagonist.
But unless I'm misunderstand something, I'm still wondering why some of the characters weren't affected by the corroding tablet during the battle of the nine-headed snake.
Twizard Rating: 91
While not as organized as the first film, Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is still a funny and entertaining movie for all ages. The humor for the parents is better, however there is a larger drop off of jokes from adult to child, whereas the first film blended them together better. Here, we see a lot more juvenile jokes that are taken overboard at times.
And I know that the kids don't see the plot holes, but you would think that there wouldn't be so many more in this sequel. The whole movie you find yourself asking question after question for clarification of the character's decisions, but they never end up making sense. While in some films you can find "good enough" answers for many of these questions, this movie will leave you concluding that the writing was just lazy. For instance, where are all the other night guards? And couldn't Larry have just turned the middle tile on the tablet to freeze the characters when things got too chaotic? And what is the tablet's range of magic? Does it go beyond the museum it's being kept in, or is it city-wide?
While lacking the element of surprise of its predecessor, it also blows the opportunity to answer some lingering questions about the rules of the film universe--things usually dug into deeper in a sequel. However, we aren't just not given answers, but the conscious lack of information is exploited in order to make the premise work. And then towards the middle of the second act things get a little chaotic and the plot holes open even wider. The chaos may be attributed to the thinly stretched plot.
Then we realize that there are issues with the character development. Larry's character goes back to where he started at the beginning of the first movie and has to figure out the same issues to get him to where he had finished. He's solving the same exact personal issues that were already solved in the previous film--a tactic that is a result of lazy character development.
On positive notes, the cast gets even stronger here. While we don't get the pleasure of Robin Williams on screen for all that much, Hank Azaria is amazing as the main antagonist.
Although this film is still entertaining for the easily amused, the poor script and the character depth issues still hinder it from becoming on par with the first film. But like I said before, it's a movie made for kids after all.
Twizard Rating: 74
If you look at this movie as your kids do then you will like it just as much as they. It's a great family film, full of laughs for the adults as well. It's a little silly and ridiculous, but that's also what makes it so uniquely intriguing.
While there are a lot of plot holes and conveniently manipulated details, it's a really funny movie. Ben Stiller is a perfect fit for this role as he uses his unconfident demeanor to his advantage with his character, Larry. There is enough good talent in this film to hold it upright. One or two jokes can be juvenile, but we have to remember that it's a movie for kids also. And we get a nice twist to go along with the humor.
Night at the Museum never tries to be something it's not. Maybe at the time of the release it seemed like a movie we shouldn't like, but I think it's held up well over these last 9 years.
Twizard Rating: 88
You might look at the reviews for this film and think that this is going to be a really terrible Christmas movie, but it's really far from it. The reviews make it seem like a so-bad-it's-funny type of film, but it's actually entertaining in its deliberateness. I actually laughed quite a lot. I tried to find the good in this movie and found a lot of it. It could have been better script-wise, and by allowing the presents to have been seemingly lost and magically arriving under the tree would have been a better twist.
Although I liked the film and would watch it again, it could have been a lot better on the technical side. The timeline doesn't make much sense. You're never sure where they are in their 4 hour trek between Illinois and Wisconsin. They abruptly appear certain places crossing the same paths with people multiple times in different cities. It's just confusing if you try to rationalize it. This, along with carless continuity errors in the script, and you have a nitpicker's dream.
Also, they never settle on a set theme. They sort of go back and forth seeming to forget which direction they want to go. It plays the "Santa is real" game, but then sacrifice its full potential for a "just stop stressing and everything will work out" message, all while trying to mend Boyd and his father's relationship--a plot culmination that somehow got neglected amidst everything else.
Joel McHale plays Boyd well, who is a very relatable character in many respects. Clark Duke is also very good as Boyd's younger brother, Nelson. However, Robin Williams and Candice Bergen don't bring much of anything to their roles--especially chemistry with each other. And since when did Lauren Graham become such a bad actress?
With a little more pedantic attention this movie would have appealed to even the harshest of critics. But there are some very funny in-jokes and scenarios that kept me laughing, and I appreciate the messages that come across. I can see this movie becoming somewhat of a cult film in the future.
Twizard Rating: 79
