Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian DVD Review

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - A 20th Century Fox Release

http://www.nightatthemuseummovie.com/

DVD Release Date: December 1st, 2009

Rated PG for mild action and brief language

Running time: 105 minutes

Peter Hewitt (dir.)

Robert Ben Garant (writer)

Thomas Lennon (writer)

Robert Ben Garant (characters)

Thomas Lennon (characters)

Alan Silvestri (music)

Ben Stiller as Larry Daley

Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart

Owen Wilson as Jedediah Smith

Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah / The Thinker / Abe Lincoln

Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt

Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible

Alain Chabat as Napoleon Bonaparte

Steve Coogan as Octavius

Our reviews below:

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Review By John C.

***1/2 (out of 4)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, starts a few years after the 2007 film left off. Museum security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), is now working as an inventor. When he finds out that all his museum friends are being replaced by holograms, and going to be shipped to the Smithsonian for storage, he sets off to rescue them. Turns out, the Egyptian tablet that allowed them to come to life went with them, and now the whole Smithsonian is coming to life.

The CGI effects are big and impressive. In one of my favourite, most inventive sequences, they jump into a classic black & white photograph. Everything around them, including the pictures, is alive. So there’s never a dull moment in terms of visuals.

Having enjoyed the original Night at the Museum, I actually liked this one better. It’s just tons of fun, visually inventive, and one of the, if not the, best live-action family film of 2009.

The DVD includes a gag reel, a bunch of deleted scenes and featurettes, games and behind the scenes videos. It’s available to buy as a three-disc Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo-pack, and as a special edition two-disc set.

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian DVD Review By Erin V.

***3/4 (out of 4)

One of the best family movies of 2009, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian delivers a fun movie, that far exceeds the first one - which I also enjoyed greatly.

Taking place a couple of years after the first one, Battle of the Smithsonian is about what happens when some of the main exhibits at the Museum of Natural History - that we came to know as characters in the first film - are replaced by holograms, and shipped off for storage under the Smithsonian. Larry Daley, (Ben Stiller), doesn't even know this is happening until the night before, as he no longer works as a security guard in this one, having moved on to a successful inventing/sales career. The night after the move, he gets a distress call from the miniature cowboy figure, Jedediah, (Owen Wilson), which forces him to spring into action as the whole Smithsonian - the largest museum collection - springs into life...

The story follows the first one nicely, without being a clone. This is achieved well with the new setting, and vast array of new characters that we meet, including Amelia Earhart, who is played well by Amy Adams. The action in this film, building up to the climactic battle at the end, is all really well put together in a suspenseful, yet still fun, exciting way. There are also lots of neat concepts in this film, like pictures that not only are alive, but can actually be jumped in and out of by the outside characters. Also neat to see are the fact that some of the characters, like their actual exhibits, remain in B & W throughout the film. One odd thing that I remember in this film is this giant balloon-sculpture-like red dog that was bouncing around - I just really liked that for some reason.

This movie would definitely be worth buying - it would make a great Christmas present. The whole movie would be a great introduction for kids to history, in the sense that they can find out who their favourite characters are based on, and maybe even take a trip to the museums, or ones like them, themselves. This is a great fantasy story that all ages, but 6 to 12 year olds in particular, are just going to love. As an added bonus, we get to hear another great score by Alan Sylvestri to accompany the film.

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian DVD Review By Nicole

**** (out of 4)

DVD Review N/A

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian DVD Review By Maureen

*** (out of 4)

DVD Review N/A

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Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian DVD Review By Tony

*** (out of 4)

DVD Review N/A

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Consensus: ***1/2 (Out of 4)