Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Traffic was exceptionally light during Memorial Day weekend so there were empty seats for the opening night of Night at the Museum 2. (Tickets were sold out for the Science Museum showings though.) I hope families will catch it during the coming weeks though since I liked the sequel better than the first installment. The franchise (if it can be called that) still casts most of the same characters -- with a few exceptionally interesting additions -- but to my mind there's just more plot, action, dialog, and humor. Detractors fault this sequel for relying on physical humor but there's not so much -- and anyway, I love slapstick (as does Ben Stiller, if you survey his career). To sum up, Night 2 is significantly more fun and funny. Larry (Stiller) has left a successful museum career to find a measure of fame as an infomercial entrepreneur -- but in doing so, he has lost his way. He returns to the museum when it needs him the most -- though it may be too late. A wonderfully breezy Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) helps Larry repeatedly escape from and ultimately confound the hilariously lisping Akmun Ra (Hank Azariah) who, despite having the best lines, wants to become dark lord of the universe with the help of Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, and Al Capone (but he turns down Darth Vader). Creepy hawkheaded minions wielding spears and gangsters brandishing machine guns help him open a portal to the underworld but action and violence are muted; no one is shown getting hurt or killed, though some are threatened or thrown across the room. As a result, families with kids older than ages 6-8 should enjoy this movie immensely. Let's just be clear: This is a family movie. For families. It does not have a mature, structured script that can be compared to an art film's and obeys every law of physics and follows every codicil of history. If you have to think longer than it takes to chomp your present mouthful of popcorn, you are doing something wrong -- so stop complaining with your mouth full then swallow, refill, chomp, and repeat. And use your ears: If anything, Kamun Ra sounds more like Booberry than Stewie Griffin. 4.5 stars. (5-29-09)