Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Released 22nd May 2009, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian follows Larry Daley as he travels to the Smithsonian to retrieve his friends who were shipped there. As a continuation of the original Night at the Museum, this film manages to pick up its characters from where they were and develop them naturally. That said, you can easily watch this without knowledge from the first film as the actors all do a brilliant job at conveying their traits through enthusiasm and comedic moments. However, I want to state in advance that the Jonas Brothers’ Cupids do not fall into the comedic category; they are obnoxious harbingers of cliché and they ruin every scene they are in with pop-remixes of licensed music.

Besides those characters, everyone else are enjoyable enough; Ben Stiller returns with his traditional mannerisms and carries the film well enough as protagonist Larry Daley. Robin Williams, Mizuo Peck, Rami Malek and the rest of the original museum cast return and give a strong energy to their characters in the little runtime they receive. Outside of Larry, Jedidiah and Octavian (performed by Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan) are the only original cast members to sustain their larger roles in a fun subplot which owes to the comradery they have forged in the wake of the original. This film instead opts to make the most of the Smithsonian setting by introducing an array of new historical figures; one of which being Kah Mun Rah, Ahkmenrah’s older brother. Hank Azaria brings this antagonist to life with (perhaps too much) silliness which lets him slip into this world well.

With the new cast, Amy Adams does a great job as Amelia Earhart but, despite good chemistry with Stiller, some moments are conceptually questionable and raise a level of discomfort when you think about them. The visual effects are noticeably better this time with no obvious green screen and the computer-generated effects looking more authentic too. Alan Silvestri delivers another great soundtrack which utilises pre-established tracks from the original; that is a perfect summary of the film. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is a good enough sequel which delivers more of the original’s humour through enjoyable characters and a new story.