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Critics Consensus: Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian is busy enough to keep the kids interested but the slapstick goes overboard and the special effects (however well executed) throw the production into mania.
Critic Consensus: Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian is busy enough to keep the kids interested but the slapstick goes overboard and the special effects (however well executed) throw the production into mania.
View All Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian News
All Critics (166) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (93) | DVD (2)
The result is pretty much a free-form traffic jam in which everyone fights everyone else.
It's a collection of some of the most interesting figures throughout history and some of the most talented performers we have working today.
This is a family comedy that will entertain the kids and amuse the grown-ups. It's also a rare Hollywood sequel that's better than the original.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, is breezier than the first Museum, at least to me, which means in three years I'll be revising my opinion downward.
Azaria pretty much steals the show.
Marvel at the movie's cheerful idiocy, which seems definitive -- even though the summer season has just begun -- and at the efficiency with which the filmmakers have dumbed down a dumb premise of proven success.
This is one lazy movie, and little more than an obligatory response to a 2006 box office bonanza.
The silliness meanders wildly, and Stiller looks like he's more than happy to let everyone else do most of the work.
I'm not sure if anyone in this film actually acted alongside anyone else, or if the performances were all cut together in the editing suite.
Doesn't have the originality of the first film and feels a little boring as such.
Amy Adams is the lone saving grace to be found herein, which is a nice way of saying she's all that kept me from pondering "to be or not to be".
No stone is left unturned.
After seeing the first film, I was worried that they would just be milking the story for extra cash, and while that probably is the only reason this was made, at least they cared enough to stay true to the first. The story builds as all of the statues are shipped to Washington DC where they will be on display for more of the world to see, which makes for a bigger and better "Night at the Museum" if you will. This film improves on story and back tracks on comedy, leaving a film that's neither better or worse than its predecessor. Overall, it has it's moments once again and I felt a little more attached to these characters than I did in the first, but there is just something special missing from these films. I fear it misses the Chris Columbus style of direction. In the end, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" is dumb fun just like the first.
Super Reviewer
Sequel to Night of the Museum is a mediocre attempt at capturing the essence of the original. Although the first was never anything great, I found it quite amusing in some areas, but in others the film fell apart. That is mostly the case with sequels, they try to amp up the stakes, and in turn, they fail to capture what was truly engaging from the original. This is a mediocre sequel, one that should have been much better than what we got. Although the original was never anything great, or highly memorable, it was a fun film to enjoy with the family. This on the other hand is a tiresome, uninspired film that wastes its potential. The jokes here are bland and there is never anything interesting to really make this film worth your time. I really was disappointed with this film, but I much preferred the original. Even if the first wasn't perfect, it was a fun and highly entertaining film worth seeing. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian has a few laughs here and there, but never anything substantial to make this a worthwhile family film. This isn't an awful film, but this is more like a movie that needed more work than anything else. The ideas were there, but the script, I felt was underdeveloped and needed work to make this sequel standout. As it is, this is quite forgettable, and is worth only seeing once, and I think it's a shame because there were parts here that worked, and given a rewrite or two, this sequel would surely have been lots of fun. However it ends up being a mediocre, tiresome affair that leaves a lot to be desired.
Battle of the Smithsonian makes Night at the Museum look like Citizen Kane as somehow they've managed to throw in even more unneccesary CGI, Characters, painfully bad jokes and un funny slapstick. The one word honestly that would describe the entire film as a sequel or as a stand alone is, unnecessary.
Not bad. I dont usually like Ben Stiller. But this served as a perfect segue into my activities in DC with my girls. We are going to be exploring the Smithsonian and this movie got them so excited to go.
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