Night At The Museum 2 - Escape From The Smithsonian

...nights are always a quiet night in for me mainly with my mum and little brother so we tend to get through films on a Monday night. So last night while we were all feeling knackered and didn’t know what to watch as nothing was on as usual Jake offered the film Night at the Museum 2. I have watched the first film and even though I didn’t think it was fantastic it was quite amusing and thought something light hearted like this would be perfect. I didn’t ...
...good choice for a Monday night as it is very light hearted and I like the kinds of films when you don’t have to think too much into them when you’re not in the mood. Another good reason why Ii thought it was going to be a good film was because of the director. Shawn Levy also directed the first movie and I was glad they kept the same director to do this one too. He has provided some good, comic films and I didn’t think we would be disappointed with ... more

~ When the lights go off the battle is on ~

Monday nights are always a quiet night in for me mainly with my mum and little brother so we tend to get through films on a Monday night. So last night while we were all feeling knackered and didn’t know what to watch as nothing was on as usual Jake offered the film Night at the Museum 2. I have watched the first film and even though I didn’t think it was fantastic it was quite amusing and thought something light hearted like this would be perfect. I didn’t really have any expectations but as the first was funny I was thinking that I might be in for a few laughs. I also thought that it would be good if they kept some of the great actors they had in the first film which luckily they did.
I am a big Ben Stiller fan I think he is pretty funny. Some of his previous films include some great comedy including Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers.
I had seen many adverts for this when it was at the cinema and even though it looked pretty funny I wouldn’t go to the cinema to watch it. As the cinema is so expensive I only go when there is a film that looks outstanding.

This film was a good choice for a Monday night as it is very light hearted and I like the kinds of films when you don’t have to think too much into them when you’re not in the mood. Another good reason why Ii thought it was going to be a good film was because of the director. Shawn Levy also directed the first movie and I was glad they kept the same director to do this one too. He has provided some good, comic films and I didn’t think we would be disappointed with this one.

INFO

Director- Shawn Levy

As previously mentioned Shawn directed the first Night at the Museum movie which I enjoyed so it gave a good vibe about this film. Shawn is a young Canadian director who has provided us with several other successful American comedies. Some of these include- ‘The Pink Panther; 2006, ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ 2003 and ‘Just Married’ 2003, all of which I thought included fine comical elements and each of these films were well known. He has also done a lot of work in television and has won a DGC Team Award in 2002 for his mini series Jett Jackson. I didn’t really recognise his name but then I am terrible with remembering people’s names, but it did say on the advert that it had the same director. I am quite surprised that he is only 31 though providing all the success he has had so far.

Writers- Robert Ben Grant and Thomas Lennon
Distributed- 20th Century Fox
Release Date- 20 May 2009
Runtime- 105 Mins
Certificate- PG
Filming Locations- Canada, New York, Washington (Smithsonian Institution.
Soundtrack- Love Bug

PLOT

Larry Daley a business man in New York used to be the New York Museum night guard and has now two years on moved on but does not seem that happy. After learning that the museum owner is getting rid of the old exhibitions which are his friends he is worried what will happen to them. For those who have not seen the first film, this museum is not normal. At night the exhibitions come to life and Larry has befriended them all. He has to rescue his friends after they are shipped off to the biggest Museum in the world in Washington and evil has come back to claim the ‘Tablet’ which is a gold Egyptian jewel which is the power which brings them to life. The biggest museum of all has come to life for the night and Larry seeks to find his friends and bring them home which on the way he experiences an interesting feeling toward someone.

CAST and CHARACTERS

Ben Stiller- Larry Daley

Larry’s business seems to be going well but he does not seem happy in himself. He is a modern, average man who is divorced but spends time with his son who is fed up of his dad working all the time. Larry is a caring guy and will do anything to help out a friend. He lives in a dark, lonely apartment and seems as though something in his life is missing. He has a brilliant sense of humour.
Ben Stiller is a brilliant and successful actor who has played in many top notch films. Previously mentioned the comedy films- Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers, other than this he has starred in films such as- ‘Dodgeball’ 2004 and ‘Starsky and Hutch’ 2004. I really like his movies and think he is a great comedian. His performance in this film was of high standard as all his films are.

Amy Adams – Amelia Earhart

Playing a famous historical woman, Larry meets Amelia at the Washington Museum as she follows him around looking for an adventure. She is quite a dominant women and being the first women to fly over the Atlantic she knows how famous she is. She does have quite a sense of humour and the fact that she is quite naïve puts her and Larry in danger many times.
When I first saw the character on screen I actually thought it was Nicole Kidman with the short red hair and facial features but after a while I realised it wasn’t. I didn’t recognise Amy Adams but after searching her name I then knew what other films she has appeared in. The film I remembered her from was ‘Enchanted’ which I watched not too long ago. As well as this Amy has been in ‘Cruel Intentions 2’ 2000, ‘Catch me if you can’ 2002 and ‘Underdog’ 2007. I think she is quite a good actress and her performance as Amelia was done well.

Owen Wilson – Jedediah Smith

The small miniature Jedediah has known Larry since he started on his first night several years ago. He has always had a brilliant sense of humour and often winds Larry up a lot. Even though he is tiny he has big confidence and will not let anyone take advantage of his size. He shows he is brave in battle and likes the freedom and company of Larry. It shows he has a small grudge against the main character for leaving his night guard post and wishes he would come back.
Owen is a superb actor and like Ben plays great comical characters. They have worked together in several movies, other than this another film they worked together was- ‘Meet the Fockers’. They act really well together and I like films they are both starred in. They have different kinds of humour but it plays out fantastically. Owen is very successful and has been acting for 15 years. My favourite movie he is in has got to be- ‘Wedding Crashers’ 2005.

The film has many famous actors featured which I really liked and it gave the film a sense of high standard. Other than these three above there are many other well known stars-

Robin Williams- Teddy Roosevelt
Steve Coogan- Octavius
Ricky Gervais- Dr McPhee (museum owner).
Hank Azaria- The Thinker/ Abe Lincoln
Christopher Guest- Iavn the Terrible

OPINIONS

Themes and Plot

The narrative was simple, good and uncomplicated. It did not have a lot of things going on at once and it was easy to follow and you could enjoy every part of what was happening. Having Larry as the main character you follow him every step which is great as we find things out the same time as he does.
Even though there were a lot of characters included in the film there were not too many on set at once and they were introduced carefully and slowly. Each character was explained on who they were suppose to be for those not so good at their history so everyone has an idea of who is who. Being about a museum and many exhibitions there were many different sets and themes. There were a few morals/themes in the film which showed values which are important.

• Friendship- this is the main theme in the film, as friends fight together and always help each other out. There is a great connection between Larry and some of the models as they sacrifice their lives for each other.
• Happiness- It is said several times in the film about things that make you happy. Larry knows he is not completely happy in his business and throughout there is the moral of- do what makes you happy and not what others tell you to. I really like this constant theme it gives children a good impression of doing what makes you happy in life.
• Good conquers over Evil- this is obvious one in the film. Being a children’s comedy they show that the good people win over the evil and greed of others. It is good to show children that if you are a good person you will receive a happier life.

The plot included everything needed for a successful, funny film. The comedy, brilliant sets, fantastic characters and a good cast. I loved the easy flow of events and as said before it is a great film to choose if you just want to chill out and not think too much about what you’re watching.

Comedy and Acting

The acting is first class all the way through. There was no character I thought was wrongly cast and all characters were funny and well introduced. Kids and adults will enjoy the silly humour such as the monkey slapping scene which is stupid but you still find yourself laughing. I did find that the character off the owner was not included as much and having a star like Ricky Gervais play this was abit of a waste. Ricky Gervais being a comedian should have been included more for comedy but to be honest the film had a good level of comedy without him.

Quotes- General George Armstrong Custer: We're Americans, we don't plan, we do!

General George Armstrong Custer: I'm a failure.
Larry Daley: No, you're not.
General George Armstrong Custer: No? Did you lead 208 Americans to their deaths in the Battle of Little Bighorn?

As said before it think that Stiller and Wilson’s play parts well together and the comedy just bounces off the two. I also thought that having Stiller and Adams together was pretty sweet. She flutters her eyes at him and they share a good connection. The best character in the movie for me has to be Owen Wilson’s and Steve Coogan’s. They are both miniatures and in the first they were constantly fighting each other to prove who the stronger side, cowboys or roman soldiers was. In this film they come together and it looks as if they have grown quite good friends. I also liked the accents of Napoleon and other foreign characters; I thought it was quite believable.

Sets and Effects

The sets and locations were brilliant. There were a wide range of different exhibition scenes which kept the film interesting and fun. Children would especially like all the different historical sets and characters and they could learn a little history with it too.
The effects were really good, like the first having all these models come to life is really well done. The costumes were right and the animals were good. One thing I particularly liked about this film is that it had more to work on as they were in the biggest museum of all. That meant more characters, sets and periods in history to work with. I really loved the way they made the art work and paintings come to life too. Each painting had its own little world going on which Larry experiences for a while. It looks really good and I enjoyed all of the different little events going on the background. The effects are very nice and there are plenty of impressive elements for both adults and children to enjoy.

Overall

This is a very enjoyable film and children under 12 would really like it although I thought it was pretty good too. The film is funny, exciting and bright and included great characters and interesting times of history. I would certainly recommend this and it is worth a watch.

Extras

You can preorder the DVD on many leading websites including play.com

Rotten Tomato rating- 43%

Website- www.nightatthemuseummovie.com/

Thanks for reading- blackmagicstar4. published on dooyoo and ciao

 

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