Another Ben Stiller production makes its way to the screen and this is something that I thought that I could avoid easily, however it seems with the sequel being released the franchise as it now stands has gone into the obligatory advertising overdrive.
Stiller plays divorcee and general "man with a few problems" Larry Daley, a man whose son Nick doesn't want to be around him. Daley has been recruited as a night watchman in the Museum of Natural History in New York. The current holders of the positions are three men who are on the verge of retirement and have been replaced by the younger Stiller who has no idea what is in store. On his first night he encounters all the exhibits in the whole Museum coming alive and this causes all kinds of problems for him as he attempts to pacify a T-Rex, stop the Huns from hunting him down and becomes a negotiator between the Romans and Cowboys, oh as well as deal with a mischievous Monkey that can hold his own ground in an argument as well as being an expert lifter of keys!
With Ben Stiller in the lead role it can be either hit or miss, in this case the film revolves around him, but yet everything that happens is something he is also involved in. So you get to the stage where he is on screen throughout the film in nearly every scene. I liked the way he played the character of Daley who is at the trough rather than a peak of his personal life and also see him overcome this negativity. This is Stiller very much toned down when compared to the films he has appeared in such as Dodgeball. To be honest it is nice to see Stiller acting as a normal human being rather than the egotistic characters he has played in the past.
Stiller has managed to recruit all his friends from his acting circles as well, also along for the ride are Owen Wilson in an uncredited role as Jedidiah the leader of the Cowboys and Steve Coogan as the Roman leader called Octavius. Don't have a problem with Coogan, but Wilson just plays the same as every other film his been in and just tends to just merge with the background where as Coogan tends to play along and takes the part quite seriously and does stand out in the role he plays.
Casting of the Guards who will be retiring in the story was a real coup; we have the legendary Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs. Due to their parts in the story they have quite a bit of screen time to themselves and always act as a trio. This in turn allows for a fair bit of snappy dialogue that is usually aimed at Stiller. Refreshing to see these three united on screen as they do play a vital part in the story. Although thankfully Van Dyke doesn't do any dancing in this film at all. For me it was Robin Williams who plays President Teddy Roosevelt that was the star of the show. The manner in which he addresses people and the screen presence he has just nabs the better performance in the film. Through his character we also discover that the displays have feelings for each other as well as the instinct to survive and evolve. This was an aspect I found not only original but also refreshing to see, as I had expected this aspect of the film to be kind of two dimensional with each actor silo'd to their respective areas of the building, yet they all roam around quite freely.
As with this story, the female characters require to have a strong role and here it is no exception. Firstly we have Mizuo Peck playing the Indian tracker Sacajawea. Secondly Anna Meara who plays Debbie, she is the tour guide and historian at the Museum which Stiller attempts to impress. Both women have strong characters and they do come into play as the story unfolds.
Oh yeah, Ricky Gervais is also appears and to be honest I think he has been totally miscast as the role of the Curator of the Museum. Ironically for a man who I believe in real life can come across as pompous and up his own backside, he seems to just take a shortcut as he is simply playing the role as David Brent in a bow tie to the extent that his accent changes throughout when talking. Wasted opportunity as the man isn't even funny!
I also found that the laugh out loud moments were again towards the beginning when the discovery is being made about what happens at night. One thing I thought was very clever was the intentional blurring of the rulebook that Daley was given. He went through the rules on a one by one basis based on what was happening around him. This blurring that obscured everything but the rule that was being focused on at the time cleverly meant that nothing was spoiled.
It has to be said that the outstanding thing about this film is the special effects, and whilst some aspects are people in authentic costumes such as the Huns or the Cavemen, some aren't and had to be digitally created. The main one being the T-Rex who Daley encounters on his walk around the Museum, the dinosaur takes on a the characteristics of a puppy and the way this is bought to the screen is not only funny but also clever, something like this was used as a gag in George of the Jungle and it works well here as well. This also ties in with the first rule in the rulebook.
I was impressed with the detail that went into the animation of the Romans and Cowboys. In the story these are figures that are an inch high yet these manage to overcome Daley quite easily. Also included in these are the Mayans who use blow darts to attack Daley. These were well done as this is a straight transfer of Gulliver's Tales into the story.
Overall I was disappointed with Night at the Museum, and unlike other films such as Shrek or The Incredibles, the film doesn't necessarily work on both levels, there are a number of sub-plots throughout the film that crosses and twists with each other that are deliberately kept simple, and however the main plot is Stiller as Daley coming to grips with working the night shift with everything happening from there onwards. The film also tends to run out of steam by the last third as the script in my mind was heavier towards the beginning than it was at the end and I felt that the last third was bolted on rather than allowing the film to evolve and flow better. It's a shame as this is what really held the film back from being a great film rather than just entertaining.
I found throughout that things had been borrowed from other films, the most obvious being Cocoon, as well as I said earlier George of the Jungle. Although there was originality in the story of a Museum coming to life at night, it is the contents that were letting the overall product down. The whole thing is eclipsed by the expansive use of CGI and the initial story is completely forgotten by the end of the film, therefore you do tend to wonder what is going on and why you are watching this.
As I said earlier with the film not necessarily working on both levels, the appeal will be mainly to the kids more than the adults watching this as frankly there isn't much for the adults to take in as the adults can just sit here and perceive the film from a different angle, while the kids will love it for what they are seeing on screen. But then after all this is a family film that the family can watch together knowing there won't be any extreme violence or swearing and as a family film it works.