Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch nervously wait to hear which one of them is still in the running to become America's Next Top ModelThis movie has the same problem as Wolverine- trying to introduce way too many characters in the short span of the movie. There was no need for back story for this bunch (because everyone recognizes the historical figures and pop culture icons), but unfortunately, the many new introductions did take away from developing the plot.
Night at the Museum 2 starts out with Larry Daley, our hero night guard, moving on from the guarding business and now starring in infomercials boasting his own products. He visits his old museum when he can to check on his friends who now feel ignored and abandoned. They are especially resentful because no one was present to speak on their behalf when the board made the decision to replace most of the displays with new holograms. Now half of the museum is being sent to the Smithsonian for long term storage without the tablet! Larry feels sorry for everyone, but claims he can do nothing and moves on. This wouldn't really make for an interesting story, so the monkey steals the tablet to take to D.C., forcing Larry to follow and save his friends from new enemies.
He quickly encounters Kahmunrah (older brother of the true tablet owner) and discovers he is a flamboyant Hank Azaria with a lisp. I love a good bad...bad guy. Hank Azaria is hilarious from beginning to end. From recruiting Napoleon, Al Capone, and Ivan the Terrible....er....Awesome....to criticizing Darth Vader's cape, he doesn't stop with the laughs. His plan to take the tablet is weakly written, though, and is pretty vague. He uses it to open a door to the dead to resurrect an army, but he needs to know the code for the tablet to do so. He assumes Larry must have this knowledge, and gives him one hour to decipher it before he starts killing off his trapped friends from the New York museum. The movie is a little disappointing in this respect because I liked the characters from the old movie, and in this one, they are barely shown. They explain this by keeping the old characters trapped in a storage box being guarded by Al Capone's men, but I feel like they could have escaped and contributed more to the story.
To appease the moviegoers, Amy Adams bounds in the movie as Amelia Earhart with an enormous amount of energy and spunk to make up for the lack of old characters. She is a fast talker, and even though she is always amusing, I found her a little hard to keep up with. One minute she's rambling on about adventure, and the next she is trying to fly her old plane just for fun. I think they needed to make her character a bit more competent and focused. Amelia tags along with Larry and helps him decipher the tablet's code by finding new museum figures to ask. One of my favorite scenes during this quest is when they resort to asking bobble head Einsteins. These quirky little guys are eager to help and finish each others thoughts as they give their two cents on the answer to the tablet. And...they do it with an attitude.
I also was highly amused by the giant red balloon dog statue that bounded around in the background of some scenes. I couldn't find a picture of him in the movie, but I did find a picture of the actual sculpture by Jeff Koons. The statue is nameless and never talks, but once it hops into screen, you can't help but giggle at its playfulness.
I had fun watching this movie, but I don't recommend going to it for the story. It mostly relies on your interest in museum figures and your ability to be dazzled by special effects. But that can be fun, too. They expanded on what they could bring to life, and now include moving paintings and pictures that you can jump into. This allows for a small extra plot involving the soldier kissing the war away picture and a cell phone, but you have to wait for the credits to see the result. It comes early on, so don't rush out of the theater.
I feel bad giving yet another 3 star rating, but that's how this movie was for me. The characters are fun to watch, and you leave with that same urge (like the first movie) to go to the nearest museum and wander around for hours. I just hope they don't make a third installment. Then I think museum attendance might start to go down....
Night at the Museum 2 starts out with Larry Daley, our hero night guard, moving on from the guarding business and now starring in infomercials boasting his own products. He visits his old museum when he can to check on his friends who now feel ignored and abandoned. They are especially resentful because no one was present to speak on their behalf when the board made the decision to replace most of the displays with new holograms. Now half of the museum is being sent to the Smithsonian for long term storage without the tablet! Larry feels sorry for everyone, but claims he can do nothing and moves on. This wouldn't really make for an interesting story, so the monkey steals the tablet to take to D.C., forcing Larry to follow and save his friends from new enemies.
He quickly encounters Kahmunrah (older brother of the true tablet owner) and discovers he is a flamboyant Hank Azaria with a lisp. I love a good bad...bad guy. Hank Azaria is hilarious from beginning to end. From recruiting Napoleon, Al Capone, and Ivan the Terrible....er....Awesome....to criticizing Darth Vader's cape, he doesn't stop with the laughs. His plan to take the tablet is weakly written, though, and is pretty vague. He uses it to open a door to the dead to resurrect an army, but he needs to know the code for the tablet to do so. He assumes Larry must have this knowledge, and gives him one hour to decipher it before he starts killing off his trapped friends from the New York museum. The movie is a little disappointing in this respect because I liked the characters from the old movie, and in this one, they are barely shown. They explain this by keeping the old characters trapped in a storage box being guarded by Al Capone's men, but I feel like they could have escaped and contributed more to the story.
To appease the moviegoers, Amy Adams bounds in the movie as Amelia Earhart with an enormous amount of energy and spunk to make up for the lack of old characters. She is a fast talker, and even though she is always amusing, I found her a little hard to keep up with. One minute she's rambling on about adventure, and the next she is trying to fly her old plane just for fun. I think they needed to make her character a bit more competent and focused. Amelia tags along with Larry and helps him decipher the tablet's code by finding new museum figures to ask. One of my favorite scenes during this quest is when they resort to asking bobble head Einsteins. These quirky little guys are eager to help and finish each others thoughts as they give their two cents on the answer to the tablet. And...they do it with an attitude.
I also was highly amused by the giant red balloon dog statue that bounded around in the background of some scenes. I couldn't find a picture of him in the movie, but I did find a picture of the actual sculpture by Jeff Koons. The statue is nameless and never talks, but once it hops into screen, you can't help but giggle at its playfulness.
I had fun watching this movie, but I don't recommend going to it for the story. It mostly relies on your interest in museum figures and your ability to be dazzled by special effects. But that can be fun, too. They expanded on what they could bring to life, and now include moving paintings and pictures that you can jump into. This allows for a small extra plot involving the soldier kissing the war away picture and a cell phone, but you have to wait for the credits to see the result. It comes early on, so don't rush out of the theater.
I feel bad giving yet another 3 star rating, but that's how this movie was for me. The characters are fun to watch, and you leave with that same urge (like the first movie) to go to the nearest museum and wander around for hours. I just hope they don't make a third installment. Then I think museum attendance might start to go down....
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