Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pag...
Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pages in a way. Thanks for all your rates.
Member since:07.11.2005
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I quite enjoyed Night At The Museum: it was a fresh and new style of film, with the quirky comedy of Ben Stiller added in for good measure. I was not surprised when I heard there would be a sequel, and on the plane on our way back from Canada the other day, it was the first of two films showing.
Following on from where the first film left off, it follows Larry Daley, now a high flying entrepreneur, as he returns to defend his friends he made as a night guard at the museum. These friends are no ordinary friends, though - they are the exhibits at the museum, important historical figures who come to life after dark thanks to a special stone tablet that has magical powers.
Daley finds that the majority of his pals are being shipped off to be replaced by holograms, as electronics take over. As he attempts to rescue a couple of his friends at the Smithsonian, the evil Kahmunrah seeks to use the tablet to achieve eternal life and complete domination. Larry must return as the ultimate Night Guard to save everyone and restore the museum back to its intended state.
I was really looking forward to this film, and I have to say I was rather disappointed. I was initially confused as to the problem, and then the coincidence that Kahmunrah came to life to achieve domination just as Larry turns up, it was just unbelievable.
The cast do a decent job, with returning actors such as Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and Robin Williams being joined by Amy Adams and Hank Azaria, among others. They are all quite clever in their enactment of famous historical figures, such as Custer, Capone, Earhart, and Teddy Roosevelt, and a giant Abe Lincoln even gets in on the act.
Yet everything was just too silly, and it was as if they had tried a bit TOO hard to force the historical issue. The danger never seems real, and although this is supposed to be a family comedy, there could at least be a bit of suspense in the violence as opposed to it all being a bit contrived, formulaic and tame. The predictability factor shoots through the roof, and although there is a bit of comedy that was enough to make me chuckle, I found myself less interested in this than I had hoped.
Yes, it's a very cleverly made film, and the special effects are, as with the first film, very well done indeed, but I felt as if it was just the same formula from the first film transferred with a different villain and a slightly different plot. I found nothing particularly new or special about it, and my ultimate feeling when the film finished was one of disappointment. I hope Stiller hangs up his Museum boots now and doesn't opt for a third: it has most definitely now run its course, and would have been better left as a single film on its own, without this sequel.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is currently available on DVD for £11.98. It's still a new release, so if you do want to buy it to watch it, wait a couple of months until the price drops. There's no need to rush with this one. It's not like the content could get any older. Not really one I'd recommend.
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Oct 17th, 2009
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