Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is one of those sequels in which bigger is supposed to mean better, in which more characters, more sight gags and more action are supposed to add up to more fun.
They don t.
The follow-up to the enormous 2006 hit Night at the Museum heaps on the historical figures and crams them into not one but two museums, with the end result feeling crazed, scattered and desperate. So many new characters have been added to the ones who appeared in the original film, and director Shawn Levy flits between them at such a zippy pace, no one gets much of a chance to register. And that s a huge waste of the comic talents amassed among the cast.
Besides returning stars Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Robin Williams, now we have Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Jonah Hill and Bill Hader. Craig Robinson, Mindy Kaling and Jay Baruchel are severely squandered – they get maybe two lines apiece.
It s amazing that screenwriters Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon can come up with awesomely twisted material for TV series like Reno 911! but offer such safe, flat laughs in movies like this, its predecessor and The Pacifier. Pity, too, because the core concept – that famous figures at the museum come to life when the lights go out at night – is still a clever one.
Having said all that, kids are the primary targets for a lot of the jokes and visuals, and will probably enjoy themselves. Ever the straight man, Stiller gets smacked around by two capuchin monkeys this time. A giant fuchsia octopus wreaks havoc and the T-Rex skeleton that acts like a playful pup should provoke some giggles. And yes, those are the Jonas Brothers, flying around and harmonizing harmlessly as cherubim.
Stiller, as former night guard Larry Daley, returns to Manhattan s Museum of Natural History and discovers that his old friends like the cowboy Jedediah (Wilson) and Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck) are being shipped off to storage at the Smithsonian in Washington as part of a high-tech update.
Larry left the gig a while ago and now has a lucrative business selling his gadgets, like the glow-in-the-dark flashlight, on infomercials. But he decides to step into action and save them because, well, there has to be some reason for a sequel.
That premise alone wasn t enough, though. While trolling the underground storage areas of the sprawling Smithsonian complex, Larry also runs into the Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Azaria), who has awaked from a 3,000-year slumber with plans to take over the museum, and the world. Dressed in an ornate tunic that s a repeated (and unfunny) source of ridicule and talking with a lisp, Kahmunrah has gathered classic baddies to battle on his side: Ivan the Terrible (Guest), Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat) and Al Capone (John Bernthal).
Larry, meanwhile, has Gen. Custer (Hader), the wisdom of a dozen Einstein bobblehead dolls (voiced by Eugene Levy), some inspiration from Teddy Roosevelt (Williams) and the plucky Amelia Earhart. (The always adorable Adams plays the role with a lively spirit and a litany of old-fashioned lingo.)
If only the movie offered the kind of humdinger adventure she was looking for – and we deserve.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, a 20th Century Fox release, runs 105 minutes. Two stars out of four.
