Director: Shawn Levy (Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther)Cast: Ben Stiller (Meet the Parents, Dodgeball), Amy Adams (Enchanted, Doubt), Owen Wilson (Marley & Me, You Me and Dupree), Hank Azaria (The Simpsons, Along Came Polly), Robin Williams (RV, Mrs. Doubtfire), Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum), Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live, Superbad), Ricky Gervais (The Office (UK))
The Deal: While Larry Daley (Stiller) is running his successful new business, the Museum of Natural History is closing for upgrades and renovations. The museum pieces, with a few exceptions, are all being moved into federal storage at the Smithsonian Institute. With the pieces coming to life only to realize they are in danger, they call upon Larry to help them. He must infiltrate the Smithsonian, and with the help of Amelia Earhart (Adams), stop Kahmunrah's (Azaria) plan to take over the world.
Thoughts: If you've seen the first Night at the Museum film, then you'll find much of this film to be more of the same. There's a new museum, and hence new characters and scenery, but the plot is still very similar. Thankfully, it still proves mildly entertaining, and the best moments of the film do come from the new characters in the Smithsonian. It's no where near as funny as it wants to be, and some of the new characters are very very annoying (I'm pointing at you Jonas brothers).
Ben Stiller is a consistent actor, but he rarely shines in his roles. Though his character is supposed to different because of his new success, he's still just exactly the same as he was before. Amy Adams is the biggest reason to see the film. She's wonderful and charming, and full of "can do spirit." She steals every scene she's in, and was so much fun to watch. Azaria did okay in his role, but his character's lisp became very annoying quite quickly, and he was far from being a menacing enemy. Wilson and Coogan have much smaller roles this time around, but there's nothing new to their performances.
One of the fun things to do in the film is to try and spot the hoards of familiar faces with roles in the film. Jonah Hill has a brief but very funny two minutes, but you'll also find Craig Robinson, Mindy Kaling, and Ed Helms all from The Office (US). There's also Jay Baruchel and Eugene Levy to spot. They all have fairly quick appearances, and I'm sure I missed a slew of others, but it really was fun spotting them throughout the film.
As I mentioned before, much of the film was a rehash of the previous film, but there was some new stuff that was enjoyable. A lot of it can be seen in trailers, but the scene in the National Air and Space Museum was very fun, funny, and thrilling. It was one of the highest points of the film, and easily stands out. The slew of characters, airplanes, and rockets are are geared up to do their thing.
Verdict: Amy Adams easily steals the show and is a lot of fun, but most of the film is far too familiar to the previous film. It proves to be moderately entertaining, but it's nothing too special. ☆☆☆
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