Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb Review

Exhibiting Traits Of Quality

It's...not awful. In fact, it's surprisingly entertaining. Those may sound like statements that are solely damning with faint praise, and they mostly are, but I must admit that with all the elements working against Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb, it turns out OK. A five and a half year long gap since the second movie, sloppy visuals and a middling plot are prominent flaws, but there's at least some moments of redeeming value.

As I mention a few words ago, the story of the film is the largest problem, as it's just too simple. The magic tablet that brings all the museum exhibits to life is acting screwey, and they have to go to Europe to get it fixed. The solution for it's faults is aggravatingly simple, and the way the film draws out the inevitable solving of that problem is really just irritating more than anything else. Not helping matters is the fact that the movie lacks the fun personalities of the last two movies; it was real joy to see the talented likes of Amy Adams and Bill Hader put their memorable spins on Amelia Earhart and General Custer.

The only major new character this time around is Dan Stevens as Lancelot, kind of an odd choice considering how the other characters in the film are real life figures. His primary personality trait is one Buzz Lightyear could relate to, in that he doesn't realize he's actually a museum exhibit come to life. It's played in a one-note fashion, and Stevens doesn't get a ton to do. The rest of the cast is similarly stifled, with few getting a lot to do.

Ben Stiller, as the lead Larry Daly, is alright, though he's surprisingly natural in scenes with his teenage son Nick (Skyler Gisondo), in a trite "paranoid father and teenage son" subplot that's otherwise a dud. Rebel Wilson, another newcomer to the franchise, playing a British museum guard, is kinda forgettable but does get some humorous moments. And of course, the late Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt pops up here, not getting much to do, but a final scene with him and Stiller is actually really effective on an emotional level.

Interestingly, aside from a final "romantic" scene between Larry and a monkey, the film fares decently with it's emotional content, though it's humorous moments are more spotty. Aside from a few funny moments from Ricky Gervais, the film contains more eye-rolling humor surrounding YouTube comments and monkey urine that falls flat. However, out of nowhere, a gag involving an Egyptian pharaoh (Ben Kingsley....yes, Ben Kingsley) mistaking his Jewish slaves for being happy under his rule is actually inventive and had me laughing heartily. The film doesn't have too many other similarly successful jokes (and it's recurring use of Octavius's potential homosexuality as a joke is disappointing), but that kind of inventiveness does pop up enough in Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb a more fun affair than you might expect.