ARTICLES

This page is a hub for text-based press coverage. Articles, text-only interviews, and reviews.

Why articles? Well, press coverage is essential! So many things back in the day were only printed in newspapers, and may be lost forever. Archiving press coverage of this franchise, like archiving fan works, proves that people cared enough about this series to write about it, whether positive or negative.

Night at the Museum

"Parents will suffer in ‘Night at the Museum’". Today, 20 December 2006.

"The Night of the Living Dioramas". The New York Times, 22 December 2006. Backed up to the Internet Archive.

"Movie boosts Natural History Museum visits". NBC News, 9 January 2007.

"The Reel and the Real". The New York Times, 14 January 2007. Backed up to archive.today.

"Comic Horrors: Rocks, Statues and Van Dyke". Mike Seymour. FX Guide, 5 March 2007.

Battle of the Smithsonian

"Smithsonian readies for movie-inspired visitors". NBC, 18 May 2009.

"Stars come to D.C. for ‘Museum’ premiere". Telegram and Gazette, 19 May 2009.

"Night at the Museum Prop Going on View at Castle". Smithsonian Magazine, 5 May 2009.

"News Corp’s “newspaper revolution” marketing ploy". Crikey, 19 May 2009.

"Another Night at the Museum". Ian Failes. FX Guide, 29 May, 2009.

"Bringing the Wright Flyer to Life". Smithsonian Magazine, 9 June 2009.

"Night at the Museum 2 Review". Matthew Turner. View, 20 May 2009. Archived by the Search below. [Internet Archive]

Click to expand

Three out of Five stars

Entertaining sequel that survives its paper-thin plot and lazy writing thanks to superb special effects and a trio of terrific comic performances from Amy Adams, Hank Azaria and Bill Hader.

What's it all about?
Ditching its US subtitle of Battle for the Smithsonian, Night of the Museum 2 sees Ben Stiller reprising his role as former night guard Larry Daley, who's now making a living as an inventor and is saddened to hear that his reanimated friends at the Natural History Museum are being shipped off to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. However, when he receives a distress call from miniature cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson), he rushes to the rescue, only to discover that Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) has come to life and is planning to enslave mankind.
Fortunately, help is at hand, in the shape of a reanimated, fast-talking Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), General Custer (Bill Hader), a bobble-headed Albert Einstein (Eugene Levy) and a giant squid. Unfortunately, Kahmunrah has assembled a trio of powerful allies, including Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat), Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest) and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal).

The Good
As with the first film, the effects are excellent, particularly on the giant squid. Unfortunately the script is extremely lazy and basically just rehashes all the best jokes from the first film – for example, what's funnier than Ben Stiller being slapped by a monkey? Ben Stiller being slapped by two monkeys.
It's also fair to say that the main characters from the first film aren't as funny this time round, but thankfully the film is just about rescued by a trio of terrific comic performances from Amy Adams, Bill Hader and Hank Azaria, who appears to be channelling Boris Karloff and is on top form throughout.

The Bad
Director Shawn Levy maintains a decent pace, but the film still suffers from lazy plotting and a lack of tension throughout – there's no sense of danger in the finale, for example. Similarly, Stiller seems bored for long stretches of the film and fails to inject Larry with any real personality.

Worth seeing?
It's fair to say that if you enjoyed the first film, you won't be disappointed with Night at the Museum 2 (kids, in particular, will love it), but it's neither as funny or as exciting as it should have been.