Nachts im Museum 2 (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
U.S.A./Canada 2009

Opening 21 May 2009

Directed by: Shawn Levy
Writing credits: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Principal actors: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robin Williams

Amy Adams (Enchanted) joins Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and others from the original cast for this entertaining family comedy directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.

Larry Daley (Stiller) has moved on from being a night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History and is now a successful businessman. Unfortunately, he's been too busy to keep track of his friends at the museum – the historical characters brought to life every night by an ancient and magical artefact from Egypt – and is shocked to discover one evening that many of them are on their way into storage in the underground vaults of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. To make matters worse, the artefact goes as well and awakens the Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who's bent on using the tablet to open the doors of the nether world and summon an army to help him conquer the world. With the help of flying legend Amelia Earhart (Adams), Larry takes on the challenge of dealing with Kahmunrah and rediscovers his true vocation in the process.

Night at the Museum 2 is one of those rare sequels that is at least as entertaining as the original. Hank Azaria gives a delightful and original flavour to the villain of the story, and there's no sense of repetition in the set-ups, jokes or, even, the effects. This movie is great family entertainment, starting with fairly young children all the way to grandparents with a sense of fun. (Osanna Vaughn)