Review of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

I found the plot a little confusing in this movie, though it is definitely an entertaining movie but the story wasn't as solid as the original movie. Of course the novelty of the original movie has worn off because this is a sequel and so we already know that the exhibits come to life at night and so on but moreso I found the story a bit confusing. It definitely seemed more like a sequel made to cash in rather than it being a particularly strong movie in terms of plot and even character development, although there are some exceptions. I thought that the character of the evil Kahmunrah was quite good, being slightly camp and not quite what you'd expect, not in a sexual way of course but in a silly way that would make kids laugh im sure. Also Sacajawea returns as the clearly infinitely wiser native American woman who rolls her eyes at the 'evil plans' Kahmunra has, easily pointing out the clear flaw in his plan (of course us women are inifinitely wiser than men, right? lol).

What I really liked was that there was some new creative ideas used, not as many as I'd hoped but the one I remember that I thought was clever and enjoyed was a scene whereby Larry and Emilia are in a room full of paintings and the paintings come to life. There's a painting of people skating on an icy lake and you can see them skating and moving apart and then Larry and Emilia end up going into a painting, a photo like painting of celebrations in Time Square at the end of a war (the great war? I don't remember). I thought that was quite creative and interesting, so I enjoyed that scene. There are other fun scenes too, I also enjoyed the part where Larry ends up having to fly this small toy plane and they end up flying outside the institute building at night, which was quite a pretty shot. The dialogue is amusing and fun and it is watchable enough, although I did feel that the story let itself down, so to speak. Of course the movie is made primarily for kids and I have no doubt that children would still enjoy the movie, I also think that its entertaining enough for parents to enjoy some of it so they can watch it once and not be absolutely bored stiff but its not a movie I'd want to watch again. I didn't think it was particularly believable, I mean of course the idea of exhibits coming to life isn't very realistic but I don't mean that, I mean the idea that this previously down on his luck, a bit of a loser night guard has somehow become some successful hot shot businessman in the few years between the first movie and this one and that he'd be able to suddenly jump back into action and be able to access the newly moved exhibits and everything, eh, it just seemed a little too convenient and silly, I mean of course the movie had to work that way and kids likely won't think twice but there was something about the story that felt a bit flat to me, personally, which is a shame because perhaps if they hadn't rushed to write and shoot the sequel (I believe after they saw what a success the original movie was, they did rush to come up with the sequel as soon as they could, which isn't a surprise) it might have received a better reception from older viewing audiences. Of course these movies are made primarily for children though, like I say and so I can't really judge it too harshly because as a kids movie, its certainly not bad. I did hope there'd be more monkey scenes though, for those of us who have seen the first movie you'll remember the face slapping scene(s) which most people enjoyed and there is a similar one in this movie but there isn't all that much of the movie with the monkey featured, which is perhaps a shame since I liked the monkey - lol.

If you've seen the first movie and your kids really enjoyed it and want to be entertained then yes, I'd recommend the movie. Don't expect it to be as great as the original movie but of course thats often the case with sequels, their not as fresh and exciting and the stories often aren't as solid as the original movies and that applies to this movie but thats not to say that its a very poor movie either. I felt that it was an enjoyable movie, some dialogue is amusing and there are at least a couple of scenes that stand out that I enjoyed, kids should enjoy it enough to keep them quiet for the hour and 40 odd minutes it lasts but don't expect too much of it and remember it is primarily a kids movie, so I feel I'd be a bit harsh to give it a low rating and I did enjoy some of the scenes, even though I feel underwhelmed by the script, as a kids movie its good enough, so I'm giving it four stars. Judge for yourself based on what I said whether you reckon this is for you and your kids if applicable or not.