Product reviewsNight at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Blu-ray/DVD, 2009, 3-Disc Set, Includes Digital Copy)

Stiller Seems To Have Lots of Fun Making This Film!

The original film worked well with me at one simple level. It woke the inner-child in me and made me feel the magic within history. Larry Daly (Ben Stiller) relives the fantasy once again at the Smithsonian Museum as all the exhibits miraculously come back to life in front of him all over again.

The story is told again in a heart warming way as this grown-up divorced business man once again strives to take control of his life.

The educational value of the first film had much to teach us although not as much in the sequel. In this sequel of Night at the Museum, much of the initial magic is already lost forevermore. We already know the displays are going to come back to life, and the general feeling of suspense is gone. To make things worse, the whole story feels convoluted and unreal. We are expected to believe that Larry has turned from a no-good night guard at the museum in the first film to this mega-successful businessman during the course of only a few years (and after being a virtual nobody for the vast majority of his life). I mean come on, Hollywood! Where did the charming loser from the first film go so quickly? Stiller's Larry is hardly likable at the beginning, and once he learns that his lovable exhibit friends are moving to the Smithsonian Museum (after the Museum of Natural History closed for technological renovation), things start happening so fast, that his motives for leaving his comfortable job to help rescue his friends are unclear, under developed, and a bit unconvincing.

For instance when the couple supposedly enters into the famous WWII picture where the sailor is kissing this girl during a parade, Larry Daly takes his time to push the guy away and takes up the kissing himself, which is totally lame.

The main course of this sequel is of course the special effects created by the two museum's re-animated exhibits, with the evil Egyptian Kamunrah (The Simpson's Hank Azaria) acting as the main villain who operates the evil Smithsonian exhibits who strive for world domination. Some effects are cute (Al Capone's gangsters brought back to life in black and white, the Lincoln Memorial rising from his chair) and many others wind up under developed & underused.

At times, it seems so much is happening on screen, that you don't really know where to focus your attention. Many returning characters from the first film are outrageously underused (including Robin Williams' Teddy Roosevelt and Owen Wilson's Jedediah) and many comedians who are brought specifically for the film contribute blink-and-you-miss-it performances, including Ricky Gervais & Jonah Hill). The only true contribution for the film is the lovely Amy Adams (Enchanted), who portrays a fluffy re-animated Amelia Earhart who seems more lost than ever.

To sum things up, I'd say that Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian may have been cute at times, but it was mostly useless, as it really didn't add any significant notion to the elements presented in its predecessor. The first film felt like an instant classic to me, however, the sequel felt more like a quick money-grab with a lot of missed potential.

I'll give this film average 3/5 marks for its ability to grab and keep your attention at times, but seems to be extremely distracting when the action is intertwined with comedy (especially some of the interaction between the squabbling characters) that makes the film look passe' & bugs bunny slapstick for the most part.

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Nadeem's Review

This movie is just too much fun to watch as well as too funny. This movie also has an excellent cast as well as cameo appearances of Darth Vader and Oscar from Sesame Street.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dosan_1985

A Very Good Sequel

Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daly, the night guard the the original Night at the Museum.

The story centers on the Museum characters being moved to storage at the Smithsonian in Washington DC along with the tablet that brings all the Museum characters to life. When Larry is contacted by Jedediah Smith (Owen Wilson) he is called upon to save the rest of the characters from Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) Ahkmenrah older brother, who is determined to use the tablet to release the demons of the underworld and take over the world.

This movie is just as funny as the first movie and all the original cast members are brought back plus a few additional characters, most notably Amy Adams (Enchanted) as Amelia Earhart.

If you loved the first movie you will love this one as well.Read full review...

Great movie. Very funny.

Great movie. Very funny!

Good movies

Get it on time and in good shape. I love this movie.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: *gopeachy*

Hilarious + Incredible

A Delightful Movie Series

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: qualitydvds

excellent

I always been enjoyed buying staff in E-Bay, I find the prices cheap and I love the passion of bid, One of the greatest thing is the way like you find almost everything and you do not have to travel far away to find the things that you are looking for, at the same time you save time and money, I decide to buy this movie because I love it and I check in the Internet in different stores but in e-bay the price was right.My appreciation to you because I received the product in less time than I was predicted.Read full review...

best museum themed movie ever!

it is a good, modern movie with a historical twist. good storyline, characters were fitted with the right roles in this movie.

Night of fun and great picture

This was an outstanding bluray movie! Very fun for the whole family to enjoy! The picture was incredible..details are amazing! Quite a bargain for the price of blurays. We will be watching this again. Enjoyed the search within the movie also. It was a unique way to play with the children!Read full review...

Battle of the Smithsonian

It was good, basically a part 2, intertaining. It was filmed well and is of good quality. It is not a movie that I would watch over and over, but it is a movie that I watch probaly a second time.