Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb is the third film in a now Night At The Museum trilogy of films starring Ben Stiller as the museum’s night time security guard. In this film Larry (Ben Stiller) is to go on a massive quest to try and save the magic of the museum before it’s all gone. Something is happening to the tablet that brings all the characters alive and Larry must figure it all out before everyone is lost forever.
Going into seeing this film, I wasn’t sure what to think of it as I didn’t know if it would be in any way good or not. While I have seen the first film, I didn’t know if the concept would be any good by the third film. But after coming out the cinema after seeing Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb I was a bit impressed. Not so much so that this is the movie of the year or anything like that (the best family film is still The Lego Movie), but I was entertained with it. It’s funny and it’s got good pacing and I think it’s something that kids will really enjoy seeing.
The plot of the film is fairly straight forward and it’s super easy to follow. The magic tablet is broken and Larry (Ben Stiller) and the rest of the characters from the original museum such as Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) and Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck) need to travel to the British museum to figure out the magic tablet’s origins. The plot is good and it doesn’t deviate too far from its original concept and keeps the laughs coming here and there with new characters bringing something fresh to the series as well.
With the film having so many comedic actors within it we get some good laughs here and there. Although people should know that this film is aimed at kids, sure families can go and watch it but it’s the kids who will get the most entertainment from it. It does have a few jokes here and there that I laughed at but it’s a kids film that to me seemed entertaining and kids around me who also watched it looked entertained. So I would have to say it was pretty good in that sense.
It’s also the last film from both Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney and if you’re a fan of either of those two actors it may be worth a trip to the cinema to see for you. Robin Williams in particular is entertaining and he gets a good ending to his character that to me seemed fitting for his departure from the screen.
In terms of the directing from Shawn Levy who some may know for his work on The Internship (2013). I felt he did a good job with Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb and since he’s also directed both of the previous films it sure has allowed him to maintain the same tone throughout them . The special effects were also well done and I’m sure they will impress the kids and may even give them a fright in one of the scenes where a big dragon/snake monster appears.
New characters to the franchise such as Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) and Tilly (Rebel Wilson) bring some new life to the third film and some are pretty funny. Sir Lancelot in particular is the most amusing and Ricky Gervais provides some humour in his scenes as well.
Overall Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb is a good family film and one that was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. It’s got some good laughs and its large cast of comedy actors provide some good entertainment. The story is super straight forward with no twists or turns but it’s meant for kids and I think they will enjoy this one. I enjoyed it enough and felt it was worth recommending for people who have kids and need to find a film to watch with them during the holiday season.
