If a mom reviews a movie that she knows kids will find entertaining no matter what her opinion, has she really typed at all?  I wondered this as my family and I sat together watching Night At The Museum 2.  There are certainly enough slapstick moments and witty exchanges to keep folks chuckling throughout this follow up to the endearing Night at the Museum 1.  We are all big fans of the first film, and this was a much-anticipated sequel in our house.  Sadly, I think this movie tries to recreate the magic of its predecessor with the “if they liked it so much let’s do it a thousand times over” theory.  The result is a convoluted story that moves like a toddler tearing through a bag of marshmallows.   

The story begins on a down note with Ben Stiller’s character, Larry, having all but deserted his museum family after finding financial success with his inventions.  He returns only to discover that all of the artifacts that magically come to life thanks to an ancient stone tablet are being shipped off and sent to storage at the Smithsonian.   Before I even had time to open my Twizzlers we were being hit with messages about priorities and cost of success.   
 
Once at the Smithsonian, the artifacts are met with an enemy in the form of an Egyptian Pharaoh bent on world domination (played by Hank Azaria, seemingly doing his best Jeremy Irons impersonation.)  Here’s where things really go haywire and one can become impatient with all this movie tries to be.  The delightful comedic moments get lost in a sea of  “bits” seemingly thrown in to excess just to demonstrate how terribly clever grown men and women can be..  Several characters that are brilliantly introduced – Jonah Hill as the Smithsonian night watchman, in a “flashlight face-off” with Stiller – are then underutilized or never seen again.  Add to that an ill-conceived romance that brews with Stiller and Amelia Earhart (played by Amy Adams throwing off lines with snappy ferocity), more “messages”, and every form of technology imaginable to bring an army of artifacts to life and I found myself longing for simplicity.   

All in all, there are enough amusing moments to make this movie worthwhile, but if the ideal family movie is one that can successfully entertain while appealing to both children and adults, then I think Night at the Museum 2 only fits half that bill.