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Currentfilm.com Review:  While it isn't one, "Night at the Museum" often seems like a sequel to "Jumanji" with the sense of menace and danger drained out. The film is the latest from director Shawn Levy ("Cheaper by the Dozen", "The Pink Panther") and while Levy's involvement does not exactly instill a great deal of confidence, "Night" manages to be a decent family feature. Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, a recently divorced father who is trying to still see his son, despite being unemployed and in need of money for rent. Seeking out just about anything, an agency worker (played by Stiller's real-life mother) says he's only a potential candidate for one job: working at the American Museum of Natural History as a night watchman. The three guards (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs) currently working at the museum are being forced into retirement, because the museum has fallen on hard times, thanks to kids being pulled away by other entertainment. On his first night at the gig, Larry learns that this isn't like any other museum, as the exhibits come to life at night. Exhibits that include a playful T-Rex, various creatures, warriors, mini cowboys and...Teddy Roosevelt (played by Robin Williams, in a performance that's surprisingly restrained, especially considering the chaos often unfolding in the museum scenes. The main issue with the picture is that while writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (creators of "Reno 911") manage some amusing (as well as some unfunny, it must be said; the two have never managed anything as great as "Reno") one-liners, they have forgotten to add much of a plot for the picture, which largely consists of Stiller running around amidst a lot of visual effects (which in general are pretty good, although some of the blue screen work could use some work.) The film's actual few bits of plot - Larry's romantic interest (Carla Gugino) and Larry's trying to hold the job in order to keep seeing his son - are really not a big part of the picture. Stiller's performance, while certainly not his best, is at least one of the film's good choices, as Stiller plays it mostly straight, trying (with some success) to be an ordinary guy stuck in an extraordinary situation. Williams, Owen Wilson (as a minature cowboy), Ricky Gervais (as the curator) and others get their moment in little supporting efforts. As passable a "time waster" as "Night at the Museum" is, one can't shake the feeling that the film had the potential to be a lot more than that. The only time that the picture has a sense of style, wonder or awe is the film's pretty finale, a night chase throughout a snowy Central Park (well, a stage resembling Central Park.) One wonders what Tim Burton could have done with the film, or Alfonso Cuaron. Robert Zemeckis. Chuck Russell. There's a lot of other directorial choices that could have likely brought more to the table than Levy. Still, "Night" gets some chuckles, offers a great cast who bring decent efforts and some special effects. It's not up to its potential, but "Night" manages to be mildly watchable (although it's absolutely more for kids than adults), despite its faults. The DVD VIDEO: "Night at the Museum" is presented by 20th Century Fox in 1.85:1 (1080p/MPEG-2). The presentation quality is excellent at best, but does vary at times throughout the show. Sharpness and detail are often excellent, but small object detail can look quite good in many scenes and just a bit above average in some others. The Blu-Ray presentation does start to show the seams more in a few of the visual effects scenes than on the DVD. Aside from the minor inconsitencies in sharpness and detail, there is the additional concern of some mild edge enhancement, which is seen in several scenes. Some slight noise is also spotted at times, as well. The film's rich color palette looked very good, with bolder colors appearing very well-saturated without looking messy or smeary. Black level generally remained strong, while flesh tones appeared accurate. SOUND: The film is presented with a DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio presentation. The film's sound design is occasionally aggressive, especially during some of the more intense scenes (such as the intro of the dinosaur.) However, much of the rest of the feature does remain rather front-heavy. Audio quality was fine, with a rich, full score and crisp, clear dialogue despite all the chaos of the main museum scenes. EXTRAS: Unfortunately, many of the extras included on the 2-DVD Special Edition haven't been carried over here. Writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon provide one of the two commentaries and mainly just riff on what passes by. They take minor details from scenes and just improv bits of humor for minutes at a time, similar to what they do on the commentaries for "Reno". The result doesn't offer much information about the production at all (although, amusingly, they frequently note that the exhibits were inspired mostly not by the American Museum of Natural History, but by exhibits at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the other side of Central Park), but does make for some laughs. The other commentary comes from director Shawn Levy, who provides a more detailed overview of the production, discussing a great deal of the "behind-the-scenes" work (such as visual effects and production design) and working with the film's cast. Thoughts about the movie's pros and cons aside, the commentary provided a good deal of information (although Levy does spend a bit too much time heaping praise on cast and crew) and insight. We also get trailers for other Fox titles, as well as a trivia track. Final Thoughts: Still, "Night" gets some chuckles, offers a great cast who bring decent efforts and some special effects. It's not up to its potential, but "Night" manages to be mildly watchable (although it's absolutely more for kids than adults), despite its faults. Rent it. 
Film Grade The Film B- DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 89/B+ Extras: 81/B |