Night at the Museum:
Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a mouthful to say (and type). Can’t we just say Night at the Museum 2 and save my fingers from all of the extra work?

Ben Stiller is back as Larry Daley – the one time overnight guard at New York’s Museum of Natural History who has become the Donald Trump of household gadgets. Everything seems to be going perfectly for Larry, but he has some new concerns.

Upon making a late night visit to the museum to see his old friends, Larry learns that Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and more are being pushed aside for new exhibits and they are getting packed up and shipped off for storage in the Smithsonian’s archives in Washington, DC. However, once they arrive in the nation’s capital, Jedediah places an emergency call to Larry, begging for help when an ancient pharaoh (Hank Azaria) comes to life and threatens to take over the world.

Will Larry be able to save the day?

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a movie clearly made for anyone under the age of 10-years old, or some college frat boys after they spent the day in a marathon beer pong tournament. The entire movie solely exists to bring artifacts and exhibits to life for humor consisting of silly slapstick, people falling down and others making goofy faces, which is what 10-year olds love more than anything else (and college frat boys who spent the day in a marathon beer pong tournament).

The story from writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon is beyond extremely contrived and concocted, but I have to think you have already given up on anything better when you buy a ticket to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It’s almost as if Garant and Lennon are trying to write a parody of a sequel with a ridiculous premise and the most predictable twists and turns you can imagine. You can sum up the movie in one simple sentence, “Hey, let’s bring stuff to life again, but in a different museum!”

Luckily, Amy “The Future Mrs. William Waffle” Adams saves the day as Amelia Earhart. Full of the energy, sass and spunk of Katherine Hepburn hopped up on Red Bull, Adams gets all of the best lines as she delivers 1930’s catch phrases and old fashioned dialogue with a sparkle in her eye that makes the malarkey endearing. While every actor in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is called upon to act as ridiculously and broadly as possible, she’s the one who brings something more interesting to it.

Aside from Adams and some super cool animation of famous photos and artwork brought to life, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is the same old same old.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is rated PG for mild action and brief language.