Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) review

I’ll admit that overall I’ve been a fairly big fan of the ‘Night at the Museum’ movies, consisting of both the original 2006 film ‘Night at the Museum’, which was actually based off of a children’s book of the same name by Milan Trenc, and its 2009 sequel, ‘Battle of the Smithsonian’. Do I think that they’re perfect films? No not really, but at the same time I don’t think that they’re ‘that bad’ as some have probably put them out to be given these films’ mixed critical reception. That’s because at their heart they’re just fun light-hearted comedy-adventure films that the whole family can enjoy. Really, I just love the overall premise of this series in which museum exhibits come to life and both films are full of fun and colorful visuals and likable lead characters. And that is once again true when talking about the final film in this trilogy, ‘Secret of the Tomb’, once again directed by Shawn Levy serving as his second film of this past year following the more adult comedy ‘This is Where I Leave You’ back in September (which I also liked). Like the two films that came before it, ‘Secret of the Tomb’ may not be the most smartly written or well-made film out there but it’s still loads of fun with a lighthearted atmosphere, likable characters portrayed by a excellent ensemble cast, and zany visuals. And ultimately, this film does a great job at sending this series off on a high note.

For those who are unfamiliar with the franchise, it centers on Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), an average Joe from New York who, desperately looking for a job, is hired as the night guard at the Museum of Natural History. But on his first night on the job, he immediately learns the fascinating secret behind the museum in that due to the magical powers of an ancient Egyptian artifact, the tablet of pharaoh Akhmenrah (Rami Malek), all of the exhibits within the museum come to life at night and that he must keep everything in order because if one of the exhibits is outside when the sun comes up, they turn to dust. However, in this film, Larry learns that the power of the tablet has begun to fade, which has also resulted in the exhibits beginning to behave erratically. He learns from his old nemesis Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke), who had tried to steal the tablet in the first film, that this is due to the fact that, as a young boy in 1938, he, his father, and a group of archaeologists took the tablet from its original resting place and that as a result, the locals warned them that ‘the end will come’, which Larry realizes is referring to the magic of the tablet. Not wanting his friends to go back to their original state as lifeless museum displays, Larry and a bunch of the other exhibits, including President Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) and miniature cowboy and Roman Soldier Jedediah and Octavius (Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan, respectively) travel to London with the tablet in order to find Akhmenrah’s parents, who are located in the British Museum, to try and get them to help restore the tablet’s power before it’s too late.

As I noted before, this film may not necessarily be the most well-written or funniest film ever made but to its credit, it’s not trying to be something that it isn’t. It knows exactly what it is; a fun little family film that offers viewers a light-hearted adventure full of wacky visuals that really capitalize on this series’ entertaining premise. The idea of museum exhibits coming to life offers quite a lot of potential when it comes to visuals and these films have definitely delivered on that regard. Not only that, but each film has also taken the premise one step further with some of the things that happen in them, like in these last two films the characters learn that they can enter paintings, with this film in particular featuring a really cool sequence that takes place in a M.C. Escher painting. The film doesn’t try and take things too seriously and as a result, allows you to be swept into the adventure with these characters. And as the final film in this trilogy, I feel that this film ends the story on a solid note and I have to admit that I even got a little emotional at the end of this film in regards to how it all comes to a close. Now I won’t spoil what happens but I assure you that you’ll probably get a little emotional over the ending as well, especially if you’re a fan of this franchise like me having been following these characters since the very beginning.

One of the biggest strengths of these movies has been Ben Stiller in the lead role of Larry Daley. He does a great job at making Larry such a likable lead character; he’s an everyman who has ended up in some amazing situations but through it all he maintains a relatable/down-to-earth personality. In this film, Stiller also plays another character, a caveman named Laa who was made in Larry’s image as a joke who believes that Larry is his ‘father’ and this results in some hilarious bits of banter between the two. All in all, the ensemble cast is as solid as they’ve been in the last two films while also adding in some notable new additions as well, with Dan Stevens from ‘Downtown Abbey’ in particular really standing out in the role of Sir Lancelot. Their great camaraderie with each other also helps make the ending as emotional as I noted earlier, especially in the final scene between Larry and Teddy, this being the final on-screen appearance of Robin Williams following his tragic death last August. I’ve heard some people express some disappointment that this had to be his last major on-screen performance but I assure you that this film is a fitting send-off to the comedic great, perhaps best exemplified by his final line (‘Smile, my boy… it’s sunrise’). Seriously, I dare you not to cry during this scene.

All in all, ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’ is a fun adventure that may not be the absolute best film in its genre but still manages to be extremely entertaining thanks to the things that made the series so great in the first place. Zany visuals that have gotten more elaborate with each new film, a light-hearted atmosphere that engrosses you into the adventure without trying to take things seriously, which isn’t really possible in a film like this given its fantastical premise, and featuring a great ensemble cast portraying a group of incredibly likable characters. And seriously, at the end of this, it will be hard not to get emotional over how it all comes to an end, especially in regards to how this film properly sends off the late Robin Williams in his final on-screen role. I love this trilogy and while I do need to see this film again to see if it ends up being the best of the three, one thing’s for certain and that is that families will no doubt have loads of fun with this film and quite frankly this is one of the best ‘third films’ of any franchise which may not exactly be saying a lot given the usual quality of ‘threequels’ but in this case I say it doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. And on that note, it’s good that this is the final film of this series and in short, it ended at the right place and time.

Rating: 4/5

This is Where I Leave You (2014) review

Dysfunctional families have been a key element of a lot of films. Last year, there was the multiple award-nominated film ‘August: Osage County’ and it has also been prevalent in films like ‘The Fighter’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. This concept has also been a part of multiple TV shows. In fact, it’s pretty much a given that almost every major TV sitcom, whether it be live-action or animated, will center on a dysfunctional family as it has been proven by shows like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Arrested Development’, and ‘Family Guy’. And of course, the dysfunctional family plotline is the key focus of ‘This is Where I Leave You’, directed by Shawn Levy (with a film that is a definite change of pace for him as it is his first R-rated film after working on multiple family-friendly films like the ‘Night at the Museum’ movies) and based off of the 2009 book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper. The family of this film is very much a dysfunctional family so if you’re not a fan of a whole heck of a lot of arguing, this film is probably not for you. But ‘This is Where I Leave You’ does manage to provide a really solid amount of laughs primarily thanks to its great ensemble cast. But what’s even better is how this movie manages to find a good balance of comedy and drama, something that’s not exactly that easy to do. But this film manages to do it and do it pretty well.

On the day of his 3^rd wedding anniversary, Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) unfortunately finds out the hard way that his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer) is having an affair with his boss Wade (Dax Shepard) when he walks in on them having sex in their apartment. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a few weeks later he gets a call from his sister Wendy (Tina Fey) who tells him that their father has just died. They then return to their hometown where they reunite with their mother Hilary (Jane Fonda) and their two brothers, Paul (Corey Stoll) and Phillip (Adam Driver). After the funeral, they learn that as his last request, their father wanted them to mourn him through the Jewish tradition of Shiva, in which the family of the deceased gather and sit for a period of seven days in mourning. Even though the family isn’t actually Jewish, the siblings find themselves forced into doing it anyway when their mom ends up grounding them. So now that they’re all stuck under the same roof again having to honor the period of Shiva, the dysfunctional siblings end up starting to reconnect with one another as each member finds themselves having to deal with not only the loss of their father but also the current conflicts in their lives.

As is common in any dysfunctional family story, there is quite a lot of bickering amongst the Altman siblings and most of the film’s humor comes from the awkward moments that usually occur during these scenes. Overall, the film does have a pretty solid amount of humor though of course like with every comedy not all of the jokes hit. In the case of this film, it’s mostly in regards to the ‘gross-out’ moments in the film, like this one recurring gag in which the young son of one of the siblings keeps going to the bathroom in this little portable toilet that he always carries around. Thankfully, these moments don’t dominate the film’s humor. But ultimately the film’s greatest strength is that even amidst all of the arguing and gross-out moments, it plays things seriously when it needs to be. After all, this is a ‘dramedy’ about a family coping with the death of a loved one, a subject that isn’t and never will be funny. Thankfully this is not where the film’s humor comes from and the film manages to find a good balance of the humor and the drama, something that isn’t always easy to do when it comes to dramedies. Even though there are quite a lot of scenes where the Altman family is arguing with each other, there are also plenty of scenes in which they bond and these scenes are actually really touching and sweet.

Of course, this is mostly thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Their camaraderie with one another is superb and their relationships with each other feel genuine, hence why the scenes of them bonding are as strong as they are. Bateman and Fey’s more straight-faced attitudes help bring a nice balance to the crazier characters in the film, like Phillip for instance. Driver is easily one of the biggest standouts of the film in the role of the youngest of the Altman siblings which of course means that he doesn’t always act mature and Driver has quite a lot of charisma in the role. Fonda is also one of the film’s major standouts; most of her material is in relation to her character’s recent boob job which of course is a recurring joke throughout the film. But she also brings the proper motherly instinct that the role requires. As for the rest of the cast, some admittedly could’ve been given larger roles in the film, like Rose Byrne, who has really proven himself to be an excellent comedic talent earlier this year in ‘Neighbors’, as Judd’s former love interest from high school (Byrne and Bateman do have really nice chemistry) and even Corey Stoll, who kind of makes the smallest impression compared to his three sibling co-stars, but overall the cast is superb from top to bottom.

‘This is Where I Leave You’ can be quite wacky at times, as one would expect from a film centered on a dysfunctional family. But when it needs to, the film smartly tones down the craziness and as for this film being a dramedy, it’s one of the better ones that I’ve seen because it does do a really great job at balancing the humorous moments with the more serious moments. And those serious moments when the usually bickering Altmans start to reconnect with one another provide the heart of the film. Of course, this is primarily thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Not only do they have great camaraderie with one another but that also makes the relationships between their characters feel very much genuine from an emotional standpoint. Despite the occasional immature or gross-out moment, this is easily one of director Shawn Levy’s most mature films to date, if not the most. I haven’t read the book this was based on so I can’t say much about how faithful it is to the book (although I have heard about a scene from the book that got cut involving a cake that seems like a really funny situation but sadly it’s not in the film) but overall ‘This is Where I Leave You’ is a nice solid piece of entertainment that not only has a good amount of laughs but also a really good amount of heart as well.

Rating: 4/5