My Movie Review on Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian · 3:49pm Apr 24th, 2020

Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 145th film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian".

Here's the summary of this sequel:

Three years after the events of the first film, Larry has moved on from being a museum night guard and now runs his own inventing company.

Upon returning to the American Museum of Natural History, though, Larry finds that many of the exhibits are being taken down and replaced with holographic information providers. The exhibits in question will be taken to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

However, after the Tablet of Ahkmenrah is accidentally taken to the Smithsonian, the exhibits there come to life and Larry receives word that the world is in danger of Ahkmenrah's malicious brother, Kahmunrah, who wants to use the tablet for his own evil deeds.

Will Larry be able to save his friends and keep Kahmunrah from getting what he wants? Or is the world doomed?

After watching the first film a while back, I knew that I absolutely wanted to watch this movie next and give an analysis of it. I remember enjoying this movie so much as a child, so the nostalgia rush that ran through me was a definite booster in doing so.

The one thing I will admit about this film is that it isn't perfect. It's mainly because there were some scenes depicting interactions between characters that seemed to kinda drag on longer than necessary, such as the scene with Larry and Brandon. The moments were entertaining, but still.

Other than that, this movie was enjoyably fun to watch! Just like it was in my childhood.

For instance, the direction by Shawn Levy, and the story by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, while flawed, were as awesome as ever. The humor throughout the movie was just so funny and well-executed, and the best part was that I don't recall a single moment that didn't make me laugh. There were also several elements in the film that successfully managed to help it have heart, the particular ones being the growing romance between Larry and Amelia Earhart, and the friendship between Larry and his old friends. The latter especially being the displays of loyalty and how far they're willing to go for one another. The film's morals about friendship, love, and doing the things you love rather than the opposite were well-played as well.

In addition, the special effects were superb! I'm not sure why critics targeted the special effects for criticism, because I thought the team behind them did a brilliant job at going deeper than ever before while not going too over budget. For instance, the giant octopus and statues shown throughout the movie looked impressively real, and so did the giant balloon dog despite it not being a recurring presence.

The music by Alan Silvestri was likewise magnificent. When the film was beginning, I couldn't help but note that the melodies used were either a remake of the material used in the prologue of the first movie or the same, but then right after that...Silvestri instantly blew me away with his work in this sequel, one of my favorite moments being the music he made for when Larry and Kahmunrah are dueling. Plus, the incorporation of Earth, Wind, and Fire's "Let's Groove" when the film was drawing to a close was a nice touch.

Finally, the acting, casting, characters, and character development were marvelous.

I really can't deny that, similar to other reviewers, I found Hank Azaria and Amy Adams to be the outstanding showstoppers of the newcomers. Portraying Amelia Earhart, Amy Adams gave her character a wonderful personality and sense of humor, and Amelia's bravery and determination makes her an awesome female role model. The chemistry that Adams and Ben Stiller created between their characters was fun too. And Hank Azaria...man, he was hilarious! Every moment with him as he portrayed Kahmunrah was so funny, and the way he savored every piece of dialogue was in a way that was not only humorous but classical. It was even amazing to see Kahmunrah become all-the-more intimidating and threatening as the movie progressed, and Azaria did an equally excellent job portraying the Thinker and Abraham Lincoln statues.

As an honorable mention, I'd like to say that Bill Hader certainly knew how to steal the show as General George Armstrong Custer, and Jonah Hill terrifically made something fun out of his character of Brandon despite how minor his part was.

The cast members from the previous movie did a remarkable job portraying their characters too. For instance, Ben Stiller's portrayal of Larry Daley was as amusing and lovable as before, and the character himself developed wonderfully throughout the film. And, Robin Williams made excellent use of his material as Theodore Roosevelt and the Bronze Bust of the character despite not being the most recurring.

In the end, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" isn't a flawless movie, but it's a worthy sequel to its predecessor and it was still entertaining.

So, I rate "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" 4½ out of 5 stars.