This was the second film I watched this day and we had went to the Beijing Road area of the city a big popular retail area and we went into this smallish (compared to Grandview Mall) but still big shopping plaza. We wondered through mall and Michelle my girlfriend was wanting to see New Harry Potter movie which was coming out in a few days and I noticed it was a cinema and said to go up and get info on Harry Potter. We got the info, but We ended up buying tickets to See Night At the Museum 2.

Night At The Museum 2 I have to say is a lot better than the first movie, which was dull at times and didn’t do exactly entertain, so the prospect of film two I was expecting much of the same or worse.  I was very surprised this was actually a lot better than 1 which I watched on TV a few weeks before I went to China.

The film is set 2 years on from the first movie and Larry (Stiller) has finally become the Boss of delay devices with the creation he made during his time as a night guard (glow in the dark flashlight) and his success has prevented Larry visiting more often than he wished. But he takes notice when the science museum is closed for renovation as many of his ‘displayed’ friends are been moved to the world’s biggest museum Smithsonian in Washington and to be replaced by holograms!!  Larry shoots off to Smithsonian pulls a few tricks and the adventure starts once again.

A lot of the first movie regular cast are still here We meet Teddy Roosevelt (Williams), Dexter the monkey, easter island head, Tyrannosaurus Skeleton and the good pharaoh Ahkmenriah and the tablet are not moving. In the Smithsonian’s he finds the rest of his friends here’s from Jebbadiah (Wilson) that Dexter has stolen the tablet and there been attacked by Ahkenmenriah’s brother  Kahmunrah played by Hank Azaria (who is better known as some of the voices from The Simspons), without the tablet the other exhibits will not be able to come alive again.

Hank Azaria brings a little more humour to the movie making him likeable with his lisping Bela Lugosi accent(if you’re not from the generation who knew and loved Lugosi wouldn’t know who he was) and some jokes that you may here in the Simpsons. His pantomime like jokes and dumbness if done right would have been a lot more funnier 9but could have been eviler), but still memorable. Amy Adams do do a good job as Amelia Earhart and Bill Hader does a camp rendition as General Custer. But for the rest of the regular cast Coogan, Williams, Wilson and Gervais (who is overrated and not funny), well what was the point of having them as only Stiller make a decent effort to be convincing.

The actual story wasn’t great at times I felt it was all over the place and I said to myself “did I miss a part because that doesn’t add up?” The whole movie was over too quickly for me, In Scotland in 1980’s there you use to be a teatime quiz show called “Now You See it, Now you don’t” I felt this movie was like this, blink your eyes and it’s over.

So if you want to take the kids to the movies and every other possible movie you’ve either seen or not interested in, I would then choose this one. Mildly entertaining enough action to keep kids happy for 2 hours and a chance for mum or dad to snooze.

I watched this in Premier section, it cost £10 per person and we got a comfy seat along with popcorn & coke, it was ok, though Premier seating is good for those arse breaking nearly 3-hour epics.

★★★ | Paul Devine

Family, Adventure | USA, 2009 | PG | 20th Century Fox Pictures | 9th May 2009(UK) | Dir.Shawn Levy | Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria

Originally Posted at The Peoples Movies | 31st July 2009