NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB – The Review

In opposition to TV’s “Schoolhouse Rock” classic tune, for movies three is not always the magic number. It’s true for most film franchises especially comedies (with NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION being the exceptional exception). Many moviegoers still get queasy thinking about last year’s THE HANGOVER PART III. Well, how about a more family friendly comedy series? In 2006 Ben Stiller decided to expand his fan base by starring in the surprise box-office smash, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, an all ages PG slapstick farce. Naturally he followed it up three years later with NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN, which did enough business to warrant another entry….five years later?! Really, it took that long for all the stars to align? Now these flicks are special effects heavy and during  the post production two of its stars, well, made sure they weren’t available for a fourth installment. So will this deflate the high-spirited hi-jinks? We’ll see as we climb those long steps in order to enter another NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB.

The film opens with a flashback, way, waaaay back to the Egyptian desert in 1938 when an Indy Jones-like explorer and his young son (along with Matt Frewer dressed up like the kid brother of the scourge of “Toontown”, Judge Doom) discover that gold tablet that ends up bringing the museum pieces to life after hours. But one native warns them about “the end”. Zip forward to today as Larry Daley (Stiller) has traded in his security guard jacket for a tux. There’s a big fund-raising event at the museum and his old pals Dexter the monkey, bombastic Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), stoic Sacajawea (Mizou Peck), the really very sweet Attilla the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), and the tiny Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) are getting ready to put on a show for the wealthy possible-donors. But back at the Egyptian display area, that old tablet is slowly being engulfed by a green rust. This causes all the “exhibits” to run amuck, even attacking the patrons. Larry’s boss, museum director Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), demands to know what happened to the “special effects”. For answers. Larry tracks down the explorer’s son who turns out to be the villain from the first flick Cecil (Dick Van Dyke), who’s living at a seniors’ center with cohorts Gus (Mickey Rooney) and Reg (Bill Hobbs). It’s all really connected to the family of Ahkmenrah. When Larry asks the ancient ruler about fixing the tablet, he replies that only his father knows its secrets. But he’s at the British Museum of Natural History in London! So, it’s across the pond for Larry and his now teenage son Nick (Skyler Gisondo), who’s not keen on his dad’s plan for college, with a crate of “on loan” exhibits. After dealing with a zany night guard, Tilly (Rebel Wilson), Larry and Nick bring the place to life with the still barely functioning tablet. Ahkmenrah is re-united with his father,King Merenkahre (Ben Kingsley), who explains the repair “fix”. But before they can start, the tablet is grabbed by the newly reanimated Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens), who believes it is the “holy grail”. Can Larry and his gang retrieve it before the magic is lost forever?

The cast attempts to bring some life to the proceedings, but for some  of them it seems like the screaming and running down endless hallways has begun to wear thin. Stiller is stifled with the straight man role of Larry, who’s nice almost to point of dullness. This might be why the writers came up with a new character: a Neanderthal named Laa , which Dr, McPhee based on what appears to be his only employee. Stiller gets to do a bit of slapstick and treat us to a “gun show”, thanks to the sleeve-less fur skin, but it still doesn’t showcase his considerable comic gifts. Speaking of gifted comics, this is the last major studio feature appearance of Mr. Williams. And unfortunately he too, gives a lethargic performance, only giving us a taste of his manic spirit when the tablet malfunctions. He then jumps from Teddy,  and does rapid soundbites of FDR, JFK, and…W?! The spark in his eyes have dimmed and the joy seems top have left. The same can’t be said for the other departed cast member. Rooney summons every bit of energy to harass Stiller in his brief cameo along with the ever-charming Mr.Van Dyke and Hobbs (wish we could’ve had a follow-up spin-off about this trio). Wilson and Coogan are really short (sorry!) changed as they become a tired “bro-mantic” duo constantly in need of rescue. Gervais is still able to wring a few laughs out of the prickly, uptight boss. A couple of the newcomers try to have some fun. Wilson generates a few chuckles, but seems restrained by the PG ratings and does a cleaned-up riff of her screen persona. Surprisingly Kingsley scores the biggest laugh thanks to a joke that connects to a big film that opened just last week. The best injection of energy may be from Stevens doing an inspired take on the standard swashbuckler. He’s having a blast and his zeal is infectious. How about a pirate parody for this talented new screen star, eh?

The direction from franchise veteran Shawn Levy doesn’t help the movie’s overall sluggish feel. For much of the screen time the story goes on autopilot doing encores from the other films. Instead of a dog-like T-Rex skeleton, there’s a Triceratops this time. And once again, Dex provides the gross-out bathroom humor. The monkey’s still quite cute even with the CGI tweaking, although the wee ones may be upset when it’s brandishing a fiery schisk-a-bob during the banquet chaos. There are a couple of inspired moments, though. A chase inside a moving MC Escher painting is visually pretty nifty. And there’s a great cameo from two stars poking fun at themselves which occurs when Lancelot thinks he’s made it to Camelot. But then it’s back to the running and chasing with a romantic subplot between Laa and Tilly that goes nowhere. And in the final moments we’re given a prologue that wants to be a happy ending, but is just melancholy (look at that final close-up of Larry). It fails to get past the loss of two great screen stars. They’re deserving of a much better send-off. And fans of this series deserve a much better finale than this retread.

2.5 Out of 5