A Pointless & Tepid Sequel.

Grade: C-

Night at the Museum 2

Indian Release Date: 24/07/09
CBFC Classification:  U
Running Length: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robin Williams, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, Jake Cherry, Bill Hader, Steve Coogan
Director: Shawn Levy
Screenplay: Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon
Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Music: Alan Silvestri

As I sit down to write this review I’m struck by the paucity of interest in me to write any thing about this movie. Bad, is not really the word that comes to mind when I try to describe it but maybe ‘Boring’, ‘Unremarkable’, ‘Stale’ are just a few unflattering adjectives that spring up in my head. I never liked the original much & hence never saw any reason for a sequel to exist but obviously with the amount of money that was made by the first one, milking the franchise for all it’s money’s worth was the order of the day for the studio.

The plot which was threadbare first time around is non-existent this time. It’s been sometime for Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) since the first movie & he’s left his old job to run a successful business. The Museum of Natural History, the place where he worked in the earlier movie, is getting shut down & the all the exhibits get shipped off to the Smithsonian’s Museum in Washington D.C. including the magical tablet which brings things in the museum to life at sunset. At the Smithsonian’s, Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), an Egyptian prince wants the tablet for himself so he can summon an army from the underworld to conquer the world. In his nefarious deed he is soon joined by Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat) & Al Capone as his accomplices. From here on it’s up to Larry & his cohorts to save the day once again & make visiting a museum safe again (sigh!).

Like I mentioned before, the plot barely matters here. On display is the exaggerated buffoonery of all the actors involved coupled with some pretty nifty special effects work meant to bring more exhibits in the museum to life than the first movie. The movie follows the formula of the first film to the last word. Since the Tyrannosaurus from the original is M.I.A. through most of the movie, we are provided with an octopus who runs amok in the museum, the same is true of other characters like Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) who’s limited appearance is sought to be supplanted by another figure from the pages of American history, the eccentric General Custer (Bill Hader). However the biggest replacement is in the form of a new love interest for Larry, Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. If you enjoyed the limited assortment of museum exhibits in the first one, the second one throws even more at you & wears that fact like a shining medal of achievement on it’s chest as if feeling proud about having taught you a thing or two about history, never mind the fact that the lesson has as much depth as a Petri-dish.

The jokes aren’t any better than the first one & if you laughed at the monkey-slapping one before then you can jump with joy, for there are two simians this time around. I barely cracked a smile twice or thrice (a neat 300 spoof & another one involving Darth Vader) through the entire proceedings & had my only real laugh at the very last joke during the credits.

Of the actors the only one who made the proceedings worth it was Amy Adams. I’ve seen her in a couple of movies now (Enchanted, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day & Doubt) & she’s definitely got oodles of charm to go with the very pretty face. Her portrayal of Emilia Earhart makes the character truly come alive (no pun intended) in spite of having little to work with in terms of characterization. The rest including Ben Stiller are simply cashing in a paycheck & others even go to the extent of being downright irritating in every scene they appear in.

While watching the movie, I was often reminded of the cartoons I used to watch as a kid, in which a group of people would be chased around by some kind of monster & they’d fall over many a time only to find a way in the end to defeat it. The plot didn’t matter nor did the characters, the entire episodes used to only be about the chase & the slapstick comic relief which came with it. I enjoyed those cartoons but that was when I was barely ten & watching something like Night at the Museum 2 now which somehow operates at a similar level of intellect minus any of the fun, I can barely find the courage to recommend it to kids forget adults. Avoid this bland excuse for a movie & watch something more worthwhile on Cartoon Network or save your money for Pixar’s ‘Up’, which should be arriving in theatres sometime soon.

Final Verdict: Your night is better served by not going to this museum.

Grade: C-        

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