Before the credits are even over, one gets the impression that all of the sight gags from the original NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM are going to be transferred to The Smithsonian from The Museum of Natural History when the move is made, but fortunately, that's not true. There are some very clever touches to this sequel and the story itself varies considerably.
The touches include such historical figures as Al Capone (only seen in B&W although surrounded by color), Ivan the Terrible (nicely played by Christopher Guest), Amelia Earhart (crisply played for comic effect by Amy Adams), and George Armstrong Custer. All get the laughs intended, including Darth Vader who may or may not be historical but is certainly well known to fans of this sort of spoof.
And last, but not least, is the astonishing job done to allow Abraham Lincoln to walk about freely after getting up from the Lincoln Memorial and interacting with others for the grand finale, still keeping his sculptured appearance intact, thanks to Hank Azaria.
The most imaginative sequence of all has the famous B&W photo of a sailor kissing a girl in Times Square on VJ day, magically entered by our hero and his companion (Earhart) so that they become part of the celebrating crowd in that B&W sequence. When Ben Stiller leaves behind his mobile phone the sailor retrieves it, wondering what it can possibly be. Clever bit.
But mostly, it's a sketchy sort of plot that has all of the familiar goings on in the original film repeated in different ways by many of the original characters. And again, the zany antics all revolve around getting hold of that tablet. However, among the newer creations, Hank Azaria does a commendable job of bringing his ancient Pharoah to life. He's a man who wants to bring to life an "Army of the Dead" so that he can use the powerful tablet for his own selfish means. Azaria makes the right decision to play the character in Boris Karloff's voice, even down to the Karloff lisp. He's a standout in the supporting cast.
Kids should love it. Once again, no expense has been spared to bring the Smithsonian and the other museum to life and this time there's a nice twist to the story with the Earhart character endearing herself to Stiller in time to give the ending a romantic feeling. One of the disappointing aspects--Ricky Gervais doesn't get to be as comically effective as he was in the first film.
In many ways, not quite up to the original, but still provides a good measure of entertainment although there are times when almost too much is going on.
The touches include such historical figures as Al Capone (only seen in B&W although surrounded by color), Ivan the Terrible (nicely played by Christopher Guest), Amelia Earhart (crisply played for comic effect by Amy Adams), and George Armstrong Custer. All get the laughs intended, including Darth Vader who may or may not be historical but is certainly well known to fans of this sort of spoof.
And last, but not least, is the astonishing job done to allow Abraham Lincoln to walk about freely after getting up from the Lincoln Memorial and interacting with others for the grand finale, still keeping his sculptured appearance intact, thanks to Hank Azaria.
The most imaginative sequence of all has the famous B&W photo of a sailor kissing a girl in Times Square on VJ day, magically entered by our hero and his companion (Earhart) so that they become part of the celebrating crowd in that B&W sequence. When Ben Stiller leaves behind his mobile phone the sailor retrieves it, wondering what it can possibly be. Clever bit.
But mostly, it's a sketchy sort of plot that has all of the familiar goings on in the original film repeated in different ways by many of the original characters. And again, the zany antics all revolve around getting hold of that tablet. However, among the newer creations, Hank Azaria does a commendable job of bringing his ancient Pharoah to life. He's a man who wants to bring to life an "Army of the Dead" so that he can use the powerful tablet for his own selfish means. Azaria makes the right decision to play the character in Boris Karloff's voice, even down to the Karloff lisp. He's a standout in the supporting cast.
Kids should love it. Once again, no expense has been spared to bring the Smithsonian and the other museum to life and this time there's a nice twist to the story with the Earhart character endearing herself to Stiller in time to give the ending a romantic feeling. One of the disappointing aspects--Ricky Gervais doesn't get to be as comically effective as he was in the first film.
In many ways, not quite up to the original, but still provides a good measure of entertainment although there are times when almost too much is going on.