Is it just me or does
Ben Stiller like making unnecessary sequels that smell a lot more of the almighty dollar than of cinematic integrity? If it wasnt for the jug-eared goon's preposterous ability to till draw a sizeable box office and studios' perpetual desire to flog a cash horse until it is well and truly dead, films like
Madagascar 2 and
Meet the Fockers (as well as
Merry Madagascar and
Little Fockers no doubt) would never have been made. But, that would be way too simple and life just isnt that pleasant, so to add to the relative wave of Stiller sequels that neednt have been made comes
Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Continuing his predictable trend of playing characters who mix a lack of self-confidence with a "hilarious" temper that is likely to lost terribly easy, Stiller reprises the role of Larry Daley, the somewhat reluctant New York Museum of Natural History security guard, down on his luck and cynical as a result. But now Larry's gone all successful, running his own company that makes his own inventions, and out of the flash-light business for good... That is until he receives a call from diddy cowboy Jedediah (
Owen Wilson) who tells him all about a move to the Smithsonian that will spell the end of the coming-to-life antics that made the first movie such a hit. And who wants to visit a museum where its just all art and culture and learning and that? So Larry sets out to save the day, with a cast of new characters including gorgeous gorgeous
Amy Adams as an excitable Amelia Earhart, and some familiar faces from the first outing. The problem is of course that the premise is way too manufactured: as ridiculous as it may sound the first film felt a far more organic comic experience than this grander, more expensive looking deal. They're trying too hard- like they felt the need to push the concept, shoe-horning in more CGI (which is admittedly impressive looking), and thus more enlivened museum exhibits, as well as a love interest (waxwork sex is surely the last taboo), but its all at the expense of the fun that made the first film a reasomably enjoyable experience. And also cast aside in favour of moving statues is any meat for the actors to get their teeth into, so much so that the most memorable appearance of the film is
Jonah Hill's hilarious rival security guard.
Memorable for the wrong reasons is
Hank Azaria's Pharaoh Kahmunrah- a chuckle-free high-camp villain who is so poorly written that it makes this usually dependable comedy actor look utterly contemptable. A lot of criticism aimed at Azaria has focused on his ridiculous voice- work, his accent undermining the credability of the maliciousness of his villain- but this is not the first time that voice has appeared. Back in 1996, a shoeless Azaria was playing Agador, in the deliciously funny
The Birdcage, prancing around on fine form as
Robin Williams and
Nathan Lane's houseboy and sporting the exact same accent as is on show here. Tsk! Sloppy form indeed for a man who must pride himself on his uncanny ability to
do voices. But credit where credit is due, the film does what it sets out to do for its target audience, hitting the right blend of slapstick and sugary escapism to take the young family audience market for its own- as did its superior predecessor. That is of course dependant upon the audience having a limited enough spectrum of enjoyment not to get sick of the same jokes (monkey slapping anyone?) and it would seem that
Night At The Museum fans do. And I do have to admit that the mobile phone joke during the credits made me chuckle. Though I'm now a little tired of having to do the public toilet style half-squat at the end of movies waiting to see what little gem is hidden during or after the credits roll. Leaves an awful crick in one's back, you know.
Extras (From the Limited Edition "Monkey Mischief" Double DVD Version)Disc One Gag Reel Six Deleted Scenes, Including Alternate Ending Curators of Comedy: Behind the Scenes With Ben Stiller Phinding Pharaoh With Hank Azaria Cherub Bootcamp Audio Commentaries With Filmmakers All of this lot is available on the single disc Dvd release, but with this double-disc release
Disc Two Monkey Mischief Bonus Disc Show Me the Monkey Featurette Monkey Business Primate Prima Donnas The Secret Life of a Monkey Movie Star: Life Off Camera Games Monkey Slap Game Abel and Dexters Flights of Fancy
Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is available to buy on DVD and BluRay from Monday 9th of November.