TwittReview: “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” is the same old song and dance as the previous two outings. Bland plot, sub-par humor, with an intentional reboot of the series at the end. Grade 2.5 out of 5

Overview: The gang is back! Larry (Ben Stiller), Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steven Coogan), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), and Dexter the Monkey travel to London to save the magic tablet from phasing out into nothingness.  While in London we are introduced to new creatures and status in the London Museum of Arts as well as Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) in the quest to save the tablet.

What worked:

• Let’s remember one thing – these moves are made for the kids and may contain some adult-themed humor.  The humor in this is flat even for a kids movie. I will say that there is a joke in the movie between Larry and Ben Kingsley’s Merenkahre (the father of Ahkenrah) regarding the Jewish people, the Egyptians, and Passover. There is also a great sequence where Lancelot is looking for Camelot and runs into the Theater production of the show Camelot which stars Alice Eve and Hugh Jackman. And yes, there is a Wolverine joke included.
• There is some growth and closure between Larry and his son Nick (Skyler Gisondo) as their father-son dynamic teaches each other to learn to trust each other and learn to live life. Nick wants to skip a year between graduation and college and explore the world. Larry wants things to stay the same. The quest they are on help them see that each other needs some growth in their life.
• Robin Williams – you will be missed. Your Teddy Roosevelt was always one of the best characters in this franchise. Your wit made the character come to life. There was an ironic twist in Teddy’s last scene with Larry as the wisdom being dealt could have been directed toward your real-life self. Very surreal in the nature of the dialogue.
• It was great closer seeing the original three security guards – Cecil (Dick van Dyke), Gus (Mickey Rooney), and Reginald (Bill Cobbs) – make one last appearance. I also liked the Indiana Jones/Raiders of the Lost Arch archaeological dig opening that showed a very young CJ/Cecil as a boy and the origins of the magical tablet.
• The Larry and Laaa (this is a Neanderthal that was built in Larry’s likeness; it too came to life due to the tablet) relationship is funny in that Laaa thinks of Larry as his daddy. And their dynamic is quite humorous.

What didn’t work:

• Ricky Gervais is an actor/comedian that is an acquired taste for most. I am in the mindset that he just isn’t that funny. And his phoned-in performance reprising his role as Dr. McPhee proves my theory. The same is true of Rebel Wilson and her performance. I am so tired of seeing her pop up playing the same dull-whited character that she is always playing. She is so typecast as this character trait that it really makes her nothing more then a set piece that speaks.
• The plot is so thin that I wonder if writers David Guion and Michael Handelman had just run out of ideas. I’ll say YES….yes they did. The quest to find the way to save the tablet was good in theory yet the outcome and end result just felt flat.
• The TV-style back-door pilot spin-off reboot of a final scene. If this series were to continue it looks like Rebel Wilson will be the star. I won’t say anymore.

Final thoughts:

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is the final nail in the franchise that features Ben Stiller.  Minus a few bright spots of humor, the thin plot, lack of humor, and poor characters turns what started as a fun time into a chapter that you want to see end quick and soon.

Rated PG with a run time of 97 minutes my final score is 2.5 out of 5.

 

One last thing and on a personal level ta that –  there was a very nice credit tribute to the late Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams as this marked their last onscreen appearances. We lost both in 2014 and it is very ironic that this was their last movie.