Just as quickly as Ben Stiller’s sudden ingenuity has brought on some form of credibility for himself, he just as quickly dissipated the idea of a repeat performance with this new effort.
Not that anyone was betting on him to deliver another brilliant idea like Tropic Thunder, but with the sequel of Night At The Museum, it’s as if he didn’t even try.
Though understandably this wasn’t completely his fault since he didn’t direct or write Battle Of The Smithsonian, but it would be hard to believe that he had no say whatsoever in the production of the movie.
As a sequel, the movie overflowed with big names and bigger special effects. Statues and bobbleheads came to life, paintings on the wall offered alternate worlds, and to every fangirl’s dream, the Jonas Brothers showed up as three little singing cupids. Well, not literally, but a reaction is almost a definite effect.
The Smithsonian Museum was one of the main attractions of this movie but didn’t mean that cinemagoers were going to learn a thing or two about history. Accuracy and logic weren’t exactly the main concerns, especially when Kahmunrah spoke in a lisping British aristocratic accent by Hank Azaria.
However, Azaria as the Egyptian pharaoh is one of the highlights this movie had to offer. He gave a hilarious and entertaining main villain and also lent his voice to Abraham Lincoln and The Thinker, whose Bronx accent may or may not have been a little insulting.
Amy Adams impersonating the famed aviatrix with a screwball-heroine twist was perhaps the best character here. She was the only one who was really giving acting a go, portraying Amelia as charming, likeable and a delight to watch.
But there’s no way she could have saved the entire script from being lazy and brainless. It’s as if the main concern of director Shawn Levy was to just reproduce the first movie with a few new faces and more computer generated images to make it fresh again.
Even the jokes failed to stimulate as they felt more like an afterthought. The writers must have tried hard to be original while mixing in pop-culture with historical characters that the end product felt fragmented and rushed; and often with lack of continuity in story progression.
Things happen for convenience sake and usually with no good reason. Why did Stiller and Adams had to run away from the army when all they were trying to do was to retrieve a bobblehead? Why couldn’t they just explain?
And with so many new players involved, the older talents like Steve Coogan and Robin Williams had nowhere to shine and no way to form a connection, or make the audience care.
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