Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers (WGA):

Robert Ben Garant (written by) &
Thomas Lennon (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 May 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

When the lights go off the battle is on.

Plot:

Security guard Larry Daley infiltrates the Smithsonian Institute in order to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, who have been shipped to the museum by mistake. |

Plot Keywords:

Security Guard | Museum | Angel | Al Capone | Astronomer

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Larry Daley
Amy Adams	...	Amelia Earhart
Owen Wilson	...	Jedediah Smith
Hank Azaria	...	Kahmunrah / The Thinker / Abe Lincoln
Robin Williams	...	Teddy Roosevelt
Christopher Guest	...	Ivan the Terrible
Alain Chabat	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Steve Coogan	...	Octavius
Ricky Gervais	...	Dr. McPhee
Bill Hader	...	General George Armstrong Custer
Jon Bernthal	...	Al Capone
Patrick Gallagher	...	Attila the Hun
Jake Cherry	...	Nicky Daley
Rami Malek	...	Ahkmenrah
Mizuo Peck	...	Sacajawea

Also Known As:

Night at the Museum 2 (Australia) (Singapore: English title) (UK) (USA) (working title)
Another Night (USA) (working title)
Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian (USA) (working title)
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild action and brief language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44999) | South Korea:All | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-7 (re-rating after appeal) | Ireland:PG | Norway:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Portugal:M/6 | Brazil:Livre | Netherlands:6 | Sweden:7 | Hong Kong:I | Iceland:L | Mexico:A | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Japan:G | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Jedediah refers to himself as a "midnight cowboy," no doubt a reference to Midnight Cowboy (1969), a film about a cowboy (of sorts) in New York City.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Larry tells his son that the Smithsonian is actually a collection of 19 museums (true). He also says that they are located on the National Mall. Some are actually located in New York City, Chantilly VA and other parts of Washington D.C. The National Zoo is also part of the Smithsonian group of museums.

Quotes:

Kah Mun Rah: I am Kah Mun Rah, the great king of the great kings, and from the darkest depths of ancient history. I have come back to life!
Larry Daley: [Awkwardly] Uh-hu
Kah Mun Rah: Perhaps you did not hear what I just said. I am a century old Egyptian pharoah. I was dead, but now I have come back to life!
Larry Daley: No I heard that, I got that. Welcome Back.

Movie Connections:

Spin off Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Life in Technicolor

The Battle to Stay Awake

At the very least, the follow up to the comedy hit Night at the Museum could have directly copied its predecessor and still made the green. But in attempting to one-up itself, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian directly copies its predecessor in spirit, while simultaneously being even worse in practice than the already obnoxious original.

I have quite literally never seen a film flaunt its budget so shamelessly. Museum 2 slides from unnecessary effects sequence to unnecessary effects sequence, many of which aren't even that impressive. Add in about fifty too many characters, a dull lead, tedious pacing and stale humour and you have an experience that strangely I cannot call outwardly bad but is simply banal and monotonous in the worst way. Even the central players, Ben Stiller as Larry Daley and Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, can't have more than 20 minutes of screen time each. It is as if the filmmakers went to the Smithsonian wrote down every single display and said "alright, lets fit these all into the movie". The whole film feels like it was sponsored by the Smithsonian and that flaw infused with the inflated budget leads to an endlessly fragmented endeavour. As if it was simply the aforementioned exec reading off the list of exhibits for the entire running time.

The plot is actually non-existent. The tablet of Ahmunrah from the original has been shipped to the Smithsonian along with all his faux friends from the Museum of Natural History in NYC, where Daley has moved on from to become an inventor. After finding out the news he then rushes to Washington to save them. But a struggle erupts between the bad and good displays as they come to life during the night. End plot and let the battle begin. All I can say is thank god that Hank Azaria is in this film (he plays the evil Egyptian conqueror Kahmunrah) because is he was absent this would have been utterly, utterly disastrous (more so than it already is). I believe I laughed exactly four times (in addition to Azaria's scenes), once at a fairly inspired 300 reference, at a cameo from Jonah Hill, a sequence with some bobble-head Einstein's and a few gags with Larry and his flashlight. That is about a laugh every half hour in a film that was already far too long.

At the very least when you have a movie like this there is a chance for redemption with a strong lead, which Stiller does not supply. He is doing it for a paycheque and boy does it show. Adams as Earhart is fine (but actually a tad slutty) and the budget also seems to also have covered cheques for about every single comedian working in Hollywood from stars of The Office, to Bill Hader, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, et al. Cameos, famous exhibits, effects, and the 'story' all combine into nothing; a tedious, soulless and uninspired film that somehow manages to squander the cast effortlessly. The only battle I will ever admit to being associated with was the battle to stay awake.

Read all my reviews at: simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com