Review of film: “NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 -- BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN” + DVD's SPECIAL FEATURES

Review of film:  “NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 --  BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN”  + DVD's SPECIAL FEATURES

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writer:

Robert Ben Garant   (written by) &

Thomas Lennon

Starring:

Ben Stiller

Amy Adams

Owen Wilson           

Hank Azaria

Robin Williams

Christopher Guest

Alain Chabat           

Steve Coogan

Ricky Gervais

Bill Hader

Jon Bernthal

Patrick Gallagher

Jake Cherry

Rami Malek

Mizuo Peck

Jay Baruchel           

Keith Powell

Craig Robinson

Clint Howard

George Foreman

MPAA Rating:

PG for mild action and brief language.

Quotes:

“Good to see you, Lad!”

“I can see you’re genuinely SLIGHTLY bothered.”

“Yes, I have NO plan.”

“The last time I checked, we live in a FREE country.”

“…  the throne, which was rightfully MINE.”

“I won’t be muzzled!”

“I thought you wanted the Cube…  the Cube of Rubik…”

“We’re Americans.  We don’t ’plan’--  we DO!”

“Act first, think later.”

“I smell adventure, and, dammit, I want IN!”

“I’m half God--  on my MOTHER’S side.”

“Why do you look at ME when you say ‘short’?!”

“These aren’t real!… ‘Ruby’ slippers, indeed!”

“Don’t call me ‘cute’!”

“You make an adorable couple!”

“Just live in the moment.”

“I know you’ve got moxie in you.”

“Sure, I talk a good game…”

“Sun come, Dum Dum!”

“It’s just for decoration…”

“I really think I’m ON to something here!”

MY Rating:

7.5 of 10 stars (for the 105-minute film, as seen on DVD).

ANOTHER Night, another MUSEUM--  & more FUN on exhibit!

            The original “Night At The Museum” was often put-down by critics when it came out in 2006--  but became an unexpectedly huge HIT with the general PUBLIC…  I personally found it very ENJOYABLE, with its use of old-time stars & it’s combination of comedy, history (which I’ve always liked) & a Museum (which I also quite like)… 

…  So, I decided to rent the # 2 film in the series, released in 2009 (& already the earner of more than $ 411 million worldwide):

…  Under bottom-line manager Dr. McPhee (RICKY GERVAIS), the original New York museum has decided to “RETIRE” a bunch of its old exhibits (to be replaced by holograms), boxing them up to be sent to an “archive” at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C… 

…  Ex-night-guard Larry Daley (BEN STILLER) doesn’t like that idea, &, now independently rich (from his idea of a Glow-in-the-dark flashlite), he sees what he can do to CHANGE that…

…  Ben visits the old Museum, & --  when his friends come alive at night – he talks to certain ones, such as Teddy Roosevelt (ROBIN WILLIAMS).  He learns that Teddy, Rexxy & Pharoah Ahkmanrah (RAMI MALEK) and his special Tablet (that helps the characters come ALIVE at nite) are NOT scheduled to go to DC, meaning the transferred exhibits won’t be able to come to life anymore...  

…  But then, cowboy Jedediah (OWEN WILSON) calls & tells Ben that the troublemaker monkey has STOLEN the Tablet, & Ahkmanrah’s evil older brother Kahmunrah (HANK AZARIA) is ATTACKING & trying to control Owen, Roman Octavius (STEVE COOGAN), Atilla the Hun (PATRICK GALLAGHER) & others…  

…  Worse still, Hank is trying to get control of the magic TABLET, which will give him special powers to resurrect an army & control lots of others…  Further, he’s recruited Ivan The Terrible (CHRISTOPHER GUEST), Napoleon (ALAIN CHABAT) & Al Capone (JON BERNTHAL) to try to help in his mischievous machinations… 

…  Ben utilizes the abilities of his son Nick (JAKE CHERRY) to try to track down where the packed-up items (including Hank & his gang) are located at the Smithsonian, to try to STOP Hank’s plans to take over things…

…  General George Armstrong Custer (BILL HADER) helps Ben escape from Hank’s minions, & Ben chances to meet Amelia Earhart (energetic AMY ADAMS), who eagerly joins his “group” for the rest of the film…

…  There’s an ever-shifting ebb-&-flow in the fortunes of the opposing groups (basically, rooted over who’s currently in control of the magic TABLET), which is both fascinating & fun as they run around the Air & Space Museum & other locations… 

…  You have the involvement of various other DC characters (such as a display octopus, the Abraham Lincoln statue), Underworld warriors & others fighting for various sides and historic personal “agendas”…

 …  After a bunch of twists & turns, the main “old” exhibits are allowed to RETURN to New York (thanks to special efforts by Ben), in a new & “improved” setting and situation (which I’m not going to reveal to you here!)…

…  Yes, there’s a batch of “silly” & periodically-“unbelievable” things--  but the actors clearly are ENJOYING themselves (especially main stars Ben, Amy & Hank), & the often-clever film is thus a lot of good-natured FUN…  

…  I personally quite relished the many “bits” of humor & homages, & would be happy to see ANOTHER sequel done!…

 * ----------- *

                           The DVD has a SLEW of SPECIAL FEATURES: 

…  An unusually informative DIRECTOR’S commentary;  a documentary about the making of the film called “CURATORS”;  “DELETED” & ADDED scenes (with or without a Director’s Commentary); and  a GAG reel… 

…  Also:  “PHINDING PHAROAH”, about how Hank Azaria tried a number of different accents before deciding on the “lisping” Boris Karlov-type one finally used in his main role as Egyptian “Kahmunrah”;  and one on how the Jonas Brothers “practiced” to play the singing roles of the “Cherubs”…

…  If you watch the Special Features”, you’ll learn that NO ONE involved with the original movie expected it to be especially popular when it was released around Christmas of 2006--  much less the HUGE hit it was with the public…

…  When that happened, the studio wanted to quickly make a SEQUEL.  But director Shawn & star Ben didn’t want to “rush” into that, preferring to have a good STORY that merited a sequel…

…  For the original film, they’d used a huge warehouse in the Vancouver area, which their set people spent loads of time & money turning into the “MUSEUM” used in the film.  After they finished shooting, they PACKED-UP & disbursed elements of the original set, not “expecting” to ever need it again…  When a sequel was decided on, they had to RE-BUILD things all over again to provide both the “old” & “new” Museum sets (at considerable expense & time & work)…

 …  Ben was especially concerned with having a basic script he found really worthwhile (particularly since he was working on “TROPIC THUNDER” as planning started on the “Museum 2” film)…  The feeling was, “You can’t abandon the characters, the tone—” from the first film that people enjoyed so much… 

…  They spent like a YEAR making a viable screenplay, + another 6 months of “storyboarding” a number of the main elements, before they did any work at actual FILMING…

…  Shawn felt he had “a very COLLABORATIVE set and cast” for the new film, which he always wants.  The set designer was “a fellow Montrealer”, and things proceeded well once decisions were made… 

…  Due to the availability of the large number of people in the cast, at times, Owen & Ben at times acted SEPARATELY, even tho they appear to be talking to “each other” in a number of scenes…

…  For the Smithsonian Museum set, they inserted the “POP cultural artifacts” many months after their original set design…  (I feel that, in part to ADD to the “pop” part of the film, Shawn added items that aren’t really located AT the Smithsonian, such as Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” & Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” paintings, which are actually in Chicago’s Art Institute)…

…  Shawn relates how there was LOTS of IMPROVISATION work done in the film, especially by people such as Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Jonah Hill (seen in a long extended scene in that segment), etc….  The basic story was all “refined” before Ben did any of his role in the shooting…

…  There are around 700 special-effects shots in this new film, which is a huge number…  I for one don’t mind having the “kitchen sink” thrown in!…  To add to the collaborative nature, Hank was allowed to try out his own pre-planned (& discussed) EXTRA jokes, in case any of them turned out especially well for the final footage…  One of them turned out to be his “Darth Vader” character…

…  Shawn commented on how their capuchin monkey Crystal is really EXCEPTIONAL in how many stunts she can do.  In fact, she’s so good, they found they had to also use her as the “Space” monkey, since they couldn’t find another monkey who could do the needed stunts in the Space Museum segment…  

…  He spoke of how they’d “added” in the idea of the black & white “VJ Day” photo made to come alive, & the “Joey Motorola” character (during the end credits) was an idea of Ben’s & Robin’s… 

…  For a smoother-running story (that wasn’t confusing or distracting), in order to keep the story focus on Ben & Amy, they eventually EDITED OUT a number of the well-done scenes with the allies of Kahmunrah (Christopher Guest, Alain Chabat, & Jon Bernthal--  seen in the “Deleted” section)…

…  Shawn spoke a bit of how they enjoyed using the Jonas Brothers as the visual “faces” of the three “Cherubs”, & also for the MUSIC they provided (including the “Fly With Me” during the credits)…  He spoke of how they had to do a good deal of work to turn the normal color shots of the “Al Capone” character so he looked just black & white…  

…  Supposedly, the “most-quoted” line from the film is “[a] born semi-forgiver”…  Shawn discusses how they came up with the idea for Darth Vader & Oscar the Grouch to be considered for joining the “bad guys” group…

…  Shawn speaks of how the phrase “the Fun of It” was in actuality the title of Amelia Earhart’s own autobiography, & it became a scene idea in her relationship with Ben…  He comments on how Hank did the “draft” voices of The Thinker & Abe Lincoln--  & they KEPT his work when no one else was found who could really improve in what Azaria had done… 

…  He enjoyed using Clint Howard in the Mission Control scene, since he’d performed in a similar scene in “APOLLO 13”.  Thus, it combines both history & FILM history in that way… 

…  Shawn feels the film’s funniest scene may well be the one where Hank as Kahmunrah wants an “agreement”, & sets it up as if it was a negotiation between two 6-year-olds…

…  There’s a scene where Lincoln gives a speech about a “house divided”.  Shortly before the film was to open, he chanced to watch a documentary on Lincoln, & realized they’d slightly MIS-quoted the line, which was promptly FIXED (by a re-recording) before his film opened…

…  Shawn speaks at length about his film-making process, including how he listens to things the actors say before and in rehearsals, &, since he works to be comfortable in his film directing, he takes special pains to listen to “OTHER voices” with ideas & to UTILIZE the good ideas of actors & others…

…  He remarks on doing an “homage” to the fight between Darth Vader & Luke, since --  to his surprise – George Lucas happily gave him PERMISSION to do such a thing…  And, he used music he’d heard in a Lakers basketball game as the background for a light-saber battle scene…  As he says, “You never know where INSPIRATION is going to strike!”…

…  Shawn comments on how it was really a thrill to take an actual plane into New York’s Central Park area for some scenes…  And, he speaks of how Amy “astonishes” people when she says she always KNEW she was really made of “wax” in the Museum:  “I know what’s coming…”…  And, how Owen improvised the “2^nd base” line (which he was surprised was allowed into the film with its rating)…

…  He talks about how they’d changed what they originally planned for the reaction of the 14-year-old guys to dinosaur “Rexxy”, & how Nick Jonas wrote and sang a song of his own…  Sort of as an overall remark, Shawn says, he believes “The actors are your creative PARTNERS.”, & he feels it’s only sensible to UTILIZE them that way… 

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