"Night at the Museum:Battle of the Smithsonian" Review

Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian is the sequel to the original where Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller, spent the night at the museum where all the exhibits came to life.

This movie is much of the same. The first fifteen minutes are spent giving Larry a reason to go to DC and spend the night in the bowels of the Smithsonian. Once there, the battle is on between ancient Pharoh Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) and his band of thugs such as Ivan the Terrible, Ghengis Kahn and Napolean. Larry is aided by carryovers from the first movie like Octavius and Jedidiah (Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan) plus Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and General George Custer (Bill Hader). The new characters are fun and fresh and make the sequel worth seeing.

The movie alternates between the fast paced zaniness that entertained the kids and the witty dialogue that I enjoyed. The scene in the air and space museum is the best, when all of the rockets and planes come to life. It is pure chaos. For some reason, the movie tries to have a moral at the end, but that doesn't interfere with the fun. Sure, this movie won't win an Oscar, but for a summer movie meant to entertain, it does the job.