Ladies and Gentlemen, behold! The return of the family movie!!! No longer would you have to ‘sneak’ out with your friends to watch a movie because you are afraid that watching it with your family might turn out to be too embarrassing. No longer would you have to be ashamed when the scene turns too vulgar or the humour reaches new ‘lows’ and think: “I shouldn’t have brought my family along!” Yes, those days are gone. Please welcome the all new and improved movie experience which promises laughs, gags, loads of fun all the while you turn the tide of time and flip back pages of history. Yes, history was never so much fun but the best part is, now can enjoy with the whole family (from infants to adults).
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Director: Shawn Levy
Running time: 105 minutes
Entertainment quotient: Wasn’t all that I just said enough?
Plot:
Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has given up his job as the night guard and is now the head of Daley Devices, a company he founded to sell his inventions (such as glow-in-the-dark flashlight). He finds out that The American Museum of Natural History (the place) is being closed down for renovations and the exhibits are to be moved to The Federal archives in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. He visits his old friends one last time before they are moved. He gets a call from Jedediah (Owen Wilson, the miniature cowboy) saying that the tablet has been stolen. Larry reaches Washington DC and sneaks into the archives with the help of his son Nick (Jake Cherry). There he finds out that the good Pharaoh’s (Ahkmenrah) evil brother Kahmunrah (played hilariously by Hank Azaria) plans to ‘take over the world’ by using the tablet to open the gates of the Underworld. He has also recruited three of the most fearsome leaders Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat), Ivan the Terrible, Ivan the IV Tsar of Russia (Christopher Guest) and 1920’s/1930’s gangster Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) to aid him in this task. Larry meanwhile encounters a spunky Amelia Earhart, aviator pioneer and the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic (played by Amy Adams). However, Kahmunrah needs a combination to work the tablet to open the gates of the Underworld. Will Kahmunrah get the combination and unleash hell? Or will our Larry save the day (again)? Watch this fantastic movie to find out.
History retold:
History is interesting, but who can bear to sit through all the dates and remember important events? Plus, in today’s fast paced life, who has the time to study and learn more about historical figures anyway? I mean, even if you found it interesting, can you spare the time? As the story unfolds, this movie takes you through the sands of time and you meet an array of characters (some fictional, most of them real).
Some facts:
· Ahkmenrah (the good Pharaoh) is completely a fictional character but it represents a time period and belief system of the Egyptians who believed in Amun (also called Amun Ra). The pharaohs of that new dynasty attributed all their successful enterprises to Amun and they lavished much of their wealth and captured spoil on the construction of temples dedicated to Amun.
· Amelia Earhart (1897 – missing July, 1937) played by Amy Adams was a noted American aviation pioneer known for her thirst for adventure. She was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
· Ivan the terrible (originally referred to as Ivan the “Grozny”). “Grozny” is a suffix associated with might, power and strictness. However “Grozny’s” meaning is closer to the original meaning of terrible – inspiring fear or danger, threatening or awesome.
Now that I have bored you to death with historical facts quite enough, the film does quite the contrary. There is reference to Ivan’s often misquoted name Ivan the terrible when he says “My name should have been Ivan the awesome”. A boy from the 1940’s is shown to find Larry’s mobile phone. Later, he is referred to by his mother as ‘Joey Motorola’ (entirely fictional, of course, because Motorola was founded by Paul Galvin and Joseph Galvin in the 1930’s) but you can’t ignore the allusions.
The best thing about this movie is that you get a whole bunch of historical figures being themselves without them preaching or giving sermons. The whole movie is a joy ride where you pick up bits and pieces of history.
The Old Flavour:
Most importantly, Night at the Museum 2 remains what the original was: a Ben Stiller movie! He is completely in his element. Add to that the characters we know so well like the T-Rex (made of skeleton, remember?), Robin Williams doing a Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, Dexter the monkey, Jedediah (the miniature cowboy) teaming up with Octavious (Steve Coogan). Add to that a whole new bunch of hilarious historical figures and you have a dish that tastes simply irresistible! The sequel does not loose the fun and gags of the original and comes with an all improved history cast (now where else would you find that?).
Cast:
Ben Stiller is hilarious! He has made a name for himself doing slapstick comedy but this is hardly double meaning. Most importantly, the comedy is clean relying more on stereotypical attitudes of historical figures rather than playing with words. There is a romantic angle with Amy Adams (Amelia Earhart) but that is not overplayed. Amy Adams excels as the spunky, adventure loving aviatrix. But the surprise package is Kahmunrah (played by Hank Azaria). I mean, literally, he is hilarious!! There cannot be, and mark my words, there cannot be a more hilarious evil villain in history!
You just have to watch it to believe it. He takes over from where Robin Williams left in the original (though I was disappointed that they didn’t utilize Robin Williams better).
The plot is just an excuse to let out the gags and the laughs which the whole family will enjoy. There is even a message at the end: Always follow your heart, do what it tells you (at least that’s what I gathered).
Don’t delay, just go and watch it with your whole family. You won’t get many like this one! The family movie strikes back to make it a night to remember, all over again!!