Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

2009 | Rated PG

Bloated with visual effects, this sequel to the 2006 hit starts off slowly, reintroducing the original characters: a night guard at the New York Museum of Natural History (Ben Stiller) and the historical replicas that magically come to life at night, which are now being shipped to the Smithsonian for deep storage. Eventually Stiller follows them to their new home in Washington, generating a few laughs with Jonah Hill as an officious young security guard; the rest of the movie involves a power grab by a reanimated Egyptian pharoah (Hank Azaria, looking buff in a spandex tunic and lisping like Boris Karloff in a vain attempt to overcome the weak dialogue). Uber-hack Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther, Cheaper by the Dozen) directed; with Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, who'd like to take the starch out of Stiller's drawers. PG, 105 min. By Andrea Gronvall

Official Site: www.nightatthemuseummovie.com
Director: Shawn Levy
Producer: Shawn Levy, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, Thomas M. Hammel, Josh McLaglen and Mark Radcliffe
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Mizuo Peck, Jon Bernthal, Patrick Gallagher, Jake Cherry, Rami Malek and Craig Robinson