| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
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| Story: |
B |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A- |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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As good as the first but for different reasons
by billy (movies profile)
May 22, 2009
35
of
47 people found this review helpful
MAY HAVE SPOILERS
I liked the first. I liked this one. I may even like this sequel more.
The first one has the magic of discovery. This one does not. This one is more about introducing new "what ifs" with what could happen if the stuff in this new museum came to life. They pull this off very well. But they do sacrifice some to do it.
How they do it is the old museum decides to go to digital exhibits and wholesales the vast majority of the old to the federal archives under the Smithsonian. Of course the tablet makes it there. But it turns out the older brother of the Egyption Pharoh has an exhibit there. He comes to life and wants to use the tablet to bring his army of dead to take over the world. Ben Stiller travels to DC to get the tablet back and return his friends back home. Of course the Pharohs brother won't have that. Wackiness ensues.
The upside is we do get to met new characters. Amillia Earhart(SP) played by Amy Adams, the pharoh's brother (Hank Azaria), etc. Really the movie pulls together pretty much all of DC as the museum. According to the plot the tablet can do this because all the museum buildings and memorials are connected to the archives via a tunnel system. I allowed this plausabity to exist in my mind and ran with it watching the show.
Pretty much everything in the movie was charming or funy to watch. The only new stuff I didn't like was anything that sang 1980's pop music. Namely the cupids and the Einsteins. Otherwise everything else was either good or great.
The greats include Amy Adams. She is lovely, funny, sexy, classy, and talanted. I consider her perhaps the most versatile female character actress alive. I swear she can be any person she wants. Every role is believable I have seen her in. Even when the role is completely different. Compared to let's say J. Aniston. JA always ends up channeling Rachel. Ben Stiller channels well...Ben Stiller. Amy Adams was brilliant in this. Every time I see her she makes that character her own and doesn't play a set pigion hole style.
Hank Azaria was funny as well. His accent and mannerisms where funny. I kept waiting for his character to get on board with everyone else and the museum lifestyle. But that never happens. But he was still funny.
Some of the other funny is of course all the other new characters they met. Cameos from Clint Howard; as well as Dangle and Jr. (the screenwriters) were great. All the wackiness was fun to watch unfold.
Some of the bad is most of the old characters are barely in the movie. Some of the old museum exhibits don't go and are in the movie only five minutes. Of those that do go they spend most of the movie in a storage unit. Sack...Saqu...Saco...the Native American woman had a funny scene with Bill Hader. Bill Hader is a very good character actor like Adams.
Another bad is from the trailer; they show Darth Vader. I was full on expecting to hear James Earl Jones riffing it up and do something within the plot. Darth never said a word and was in only one scene. Who got to speak in that scene...Oscar the Grouch. I was pissed. But not really for long.
Another bad was a lack of Carla Gucino. I would have loved to see her either acting jealous or snickering at an uncomfortable Ben Stiller; "oohh, the wax girl has a crush on you. Shame, shame" would have been funny to watch. There is a lot of humorous ackwardness that can come from a crush that can't happen. For the girlfriend to be a part of it would have been great in this case IMO.
Overall it is wide audience comedy. Nothing gratuitous that requires uncomfortable talks with children. The violance is minor, because of course Ben is the only real person. The movie does have a happy ending almost to the point of hollywood formula cheese. But they pulled it off without me rolling my eyes. The movie has action, humor, great visuals at times, and some of the best character acting I've seen. I would say I liked it more than the new Terminator.
Plus it has Amy Adams and not enough Carla Gucino. They should do a movie togeter "Hollywood Babes That Never Age." |
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