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Joe, and Hank Azaria chews every piece of scenery in sight as the villainous Kamenrah, a man whose sense of evil is never quite as pronounced as his lisp. Guest appearances by a number of different film and television props, characters, and actors round out the large ensemble, and it’s just a shame that some of the bit players like Bill Hader’s hilarious Custard don’t have more to work with.
In the end, the film doesn’t really try to raise the bar all that much. The laughs are geared towards a young audience and are mostly visual in nature, leaving teenagers and adults to cope with briefly comedic character moments that end up few and far between. Though not as much of a budget waste as Evan Almighty, it should be noted that such films as The Hangover were produced for under $30 million and registered far more laughs than this sequel ever could. Just because you can go bigger, definitely doesn’t mean it’s going to be funnier, and Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian is a poster child of this particular trend. The effort is worth rewarding though, and given a better story, this could have been the kind of terrific sequel that improves on everything the previous film did right. Instead it’s a faintly less entertaining follow up that will fit nicely in between the other big movies of the summer without striving to be anything more than popcorn entertainment.
Movie Grade: B-
In the sequel, the Museum of Natural History is closed down for upgrading and the exhibits are put into storage at the Federal Archives in Washington, D.C. Adams will star as Amelia Earhart who has a crush on security
guard Larry (Stiller). |
