Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

 
by KYW's Bill Wine
 
The makers of the 2006 hit Night at the Museum certainly had commercial motivation to crank out another entry.  It's just that they couldn't come up with a creative reason for a followup. 

But they went ahead and made one anyway.  The result is one mess of a movie and an instant museum piece.
 
A CGI-heavy fantasy-comedy, Night at the Museum was a mediocre movie but a monster hit.  The sequel is much worse.  And will probably also be immensely popular. Go figure.
 
From its awkward opening through its empty climax, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian remains all sound and fury, signifying close to nothing.
 
Ben Stiller (right) returns as Larry Daley, who used to be an inventor-turned-museum guard, but is now hawking his popular inventions in TV infomercials. 

On a visit to his old employer, New York City's Museum of Natural History, he finds out that the exhibits which came to life in the original to become his friends are being moved to Washington, DC to be put into storage in the Smithsonian Instituition, the 19 interconnected facilities of which make it the world's largest museum.
 
But the tablet that animates them is also shipped there, and the Egyptian ruler, Kahmunrah, played by Hank Azaria (channeling Boris Karloff), finally awake after all these years, puts it to bad use in his quest for world domination.  
  
And he enlists the villainous help of Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), Napoleoan Bonaparte (Alain Chabat), and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal).
 
Who else but Larry can help stop this megalomaniac?
   
Returning as displays that come to life are Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, Owen Wilson as Jedediah Smith, and Steve Coogan as Octavius.  And Ricky Gervais reprises his role as the head of New York's Museum of Natural History.
 
However, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian screenwriters Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon can't be bothered thinking up anything of interest for anyone to do beyond donning costumes and applying makeup.
    
And because there are no fantasy rules established, there is no internal logic whatsoever.  Their script, which does nothing with its premise, is consequently about 85 percent filler.  Maybe 90 percent.  All the film offers are a few CGI highlights for the trailer.
 
Azaria as the lisping pharaoh (he also voices Abe Lincoln and The Thinker) and Bill Hader as General Custer manage to earn a few chuckles, and Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart demonstrates her star-quality charisma.  But everyone else stands around wondering why they have little or nothing to do.
 
Especially Stiller, who looks embarrassed to be involved.  He should be.
 
As for director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, The Pink Panther, Cheaper by the Dozen, Just Married), well, let's just say he lives down to his reputation.
 
This isn't just a kidflick, it's a bad kidflick, one which talks down to youngsters -- make that at youngsters -- throughout.  Come to think of it, the film's not aimed at children -- it's aimed at slow children. 
 
Which is why we'll rescue 1½ stars out of 4 for the sorrowfully superfluous sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. 
 
The exhibits come to life; the movie never comes close.