From The Archives: Home Viewing Review - "Night At The Museum 2"

There's a new Night At The Museum movie coming out.  Here's a review of Night At The Museum 2 that I wrote for Staffordshire University's One Media Group after the DVD release:

"The first Night at the Museum was passable family fare and one could imagine this franchise being made by Disney in the 1970s.  But as I say it was merely passable and had Dick Van Dyke doing Ninja moves.  The sequel takes a similar root to Toy Story 2 by taking our characters and transplanting them in a new location – the Washington Smithsonian – with other characters of the same ilk, but now it’s not only the exhibits that come to life but also pictures.  Here, a villainous Pharaoh (an at times amusing be-lisped Hank Azaria from The Simpsons) seeks the life-giving tablet to unleash his army from the Underworld.  Ex-night guard Larry teams up with Amelia Earhart (Enchanted’s Amy Adams) to stop him, while the cast from the first film spend most of this one in storage formulating a plan.  Now one problem I’ve noticed is that when they enter the room containing more recent aircraft including NASA material, the exhibits only then come to life, which should mean that meanwhile the main cast stay lifeless.  Also the space backdrop doesn’t suddenly become a vacuum threatening to suck our heroes into oblivion, whereas all the other pictures come to life.  I’d estimate two to three laughs and a giggle."