Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian-Family Movie Review

Larry Daley, the security guard in the first movie, is now a huge success as an inventor and CEO of a gadget company. When Larry stops by the museum one day he discovers that the Museum is closed for renovations and his “historical plastic friends” are being shipped from their New York museum to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Larry immediately flies to D.C. when he learns that the monkey has taken the magical Egyptain tablet, which brings everything and everyone to life. So now, a new character, the evil pharaoh (Hank Azaria), who’s from the Smithsonian, hopes to use the tablet to conquer the Smithsonian and the world, and it’s up to Larry and his friends to save the day.

Rating: Four out of five buckets
Release Date: December 1, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 7+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Mild
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: None

See the trailer here!

Talking points:

Hanks Azaria steals the show. He is an evil pharaoh with a lisp and a slightly feminine stream of consciousness way of talking. He’s hilarious. He choose Archie Bunker’s chair as his throne and was dismayed to discover that Dorothy’s ruby red slippers weren’t made with red rubies.

Amy Adams is terrific as Amelia Earhart. There are other fun and interesting new characters in this movie; Al Capone, bobble head mini Einsteins, and Abraham Lincoln.

A new idea of the sequel is that the artwork also comes to life, and they even entered into the artwork, which was fun and creative.

Amelia Earhart(Amy Adams) stresses the importance of having fun in what you do in life, she says “If you’re not excited by what you do, why do it.” This is a constant message throughout the movie.

In the end Larry say’s “ The key to happiness is doing what you love with people you love.”

Teddy Roosevelt says “Sometimes the greatest change brings about even greater opportunity.”

I read that the first film had a positive impact on museums, it boosted attendance at the New York Museum by 20%. This may encourage kids to visit a museum this summer.

Ben Stiller, who plays Larry, said “this movie makes the air space museum seem like the coolest place in the world.”

Sexual Content: Mild