The Valley Breeze

11/20/2009

AT THE MOVIES - New 'museum' movie entertains; not as likable as original

** 1/2 "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian"

One of 2006's big screen pleasant surprises, in terms of box office numbers and earnest likability, came in the form of a mild Ben Stiller family vehicle.

Written by a duo of stars from Comedy Central's "Reno 911!," director Shawn Levy's "Night at the Museum," while a tad clunky in run-time, married focused humor with an elementary plot (night guard works in a museum where all the exhibits come to life after closing time, hilarity ensues), and somehow managed to deliver a film that remained endearing and accessible even to those over the age of 9.

With popularity comes the promise of a big budget follow-up, and as with 2004's "Shrek 2," it's an excusable decision, as "Museum's" leads are likable enough to warrant a summer sequel.

Unfortunately, while Stiller remains his flippantly sarcastic self, helping to maintain an even tone of comedy throughout, "Smithsonian" suffers from sequel haste; jumping quickly into a full-force plot without presenting benevolent developmental elements, a trait which smoothly rounded out the previous film.

With a healthy strain of supporting actor cameos and historical figure/art form/artifact CGI shout-outs, Levy's second entry thaws at room temperature; oversaturated by too many personalities and not a lot of warmth.

Even as Stiller slowly (and rightfully) falls under the spell of snappy ginger Amy Adams, sentiment is replaced by puzzlement, as one is left to wonder what happened to his previous prospective love interest in Carla Gugino?

Prior plot progressions are unimportant, as we meet up with Stiller's Larry Daley, a former night guard at The American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, now a currently dead-inside invention hawker a la Billy Mays, sans the bearded yelling.

Upon learning that most of the exhibits he once bonded with are being shipped to the Federal Archives at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, Daley expresses great remorse at the prospect that they will no longer be animated and appreciated by the public.

The following evening, Daley receives a long-distance phone call from miniature cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson), summoning Daley's assistance in defeating a new foe: Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), the bitter, power-hungry older brother to Ahkmenrah, keeper of the magical scroll which gives life to all of the museum's inhabitants.

Daley immediately infiltrates the Smithsonian complex; with a little help from some familiar historical faces (Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Bill Hader as General George Armstrong Custer), and while facing opposition from some equally notable baddies (Christopher Guest as Ivan The Terrible and Alain Chabat as Napoleon Bonaparte), our lead attempts to save the day before dawn.

Other than Daley's son mentioning that the famous D.C. complex had a ton of "cool stuff," Levy's sequel doesn't quite sell his title museum as successfully as his previous film, which promoted the importance of learning about our past by digesting significant facts about noteworthy figures and events.

Not that our sequel shouldn't be anything less than entertaining, and it certainly never lulls, but it never quite reaches to educate other than to offer notorious character trait allusions (Napoleon was ashamed of being short, Al Capone was a tough guy). "Smithsonian" is nothing more than easily digestible kid-schlock with a cast roster elbowing adults; yet even as a handful of stars from "The Office" and jowl-jiggling spazz Jonah Hill offer up some consistent quips here and there, their brief appearances are further proof that the film is trudging forward for forward's sake.

As cute as Adams is, she's not so much a comedic force as she is a solid actress, and scenes between Stiller and Adams aren't so much hilarious, they're just watchable. "Smithsonian," as a whole, is much of the same; not quite noteworthy, but sufficiently gratifying.

- Now playing at CinemaWorld, Lincoln, 622 George Washington Highway, 401-333-8676, cinemaworldonline.com.