Bringing the Past to Life: With Ben Stiller (Night At The Museum (Blu-ray))

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Night At The Museum (Blu-ray)
Date:	22/03/09 (191 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Decent CGI

Disadvantages: Poor Writing

Directed by Shawn Levy, 'Night at the Museum' tells the story of Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) a man who, in an attempt to prove that he can be a decent dad, is looking for regular work after struggling to hold down jobs in the past. As a result, Larry gets a seemingly perfect post as the night guard at the Museum of Natural History - however, the guys who hire him (Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs) hold back one piece of important information... the museum comes to life at night.

Ben Stiller puts in a good performance in the lead role, and uses a toned down, family friendly version of his usual dysfunctional style of acting. His character comes across as being fairly likeable - which is surprising considering the range of obnoxious characters he has portrayed in the past.

Ricky Gervais has what is effectively an extended cameo as the museum curator 'Dr. McPhee', and plays the only type of character he knows how to - the uncomfortable to watch, but nevertheless amusing obnoxious British guy.

Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan make appearances as a miniature cowboy and a Roman soldier. Although the scenes featuring Wilson and Coogan are entertaining, the humour generally comes from the special effects rather than the use of clever writing, which, due to the slapstick nature of the comedy, seems to be pretty much absent from this movie.

Robin Williams' portrayal of a waxwork Teddy Roosevelt is notable, as his character is both well developed and fairly interesting - unlike Mizuo Peck's 'Sacajawea' who doesn't add much to the overall experience.

The chemistry between all the actors is pretty good, but the top pairing is probably the relationship between Stiller and the mischievous monkey 'Dexter'. When I saw the film in the cinema, these scenes probably brought the most laughs from the audience - and were quite amusing.

On the whole, the special effects used throughout the film are good, with the range of relics and fossils brought to life being fun to watch and well concieved, especially the T-Rex skeleton at the start of the movie.

All in all, Night at the Museum is fun film for all ages, which provides the viewer with some much needed escapism. That said, although funny in places, the movie generally suffers from poor writing and an over reliance of CGI to carry the dull lengthier scenes.

To summarise, I would describe the movie as predictable but family friendly nonsense... a little soulless, but entertaining to watch nevertheless.

Lead Roles
- - - - - - - -
Ben Stiller - Larry Daley
Carla Gugino - Rebecca
Dick Van Dyke - Cecil
Mickey Rooney - Gus
Bill Cobbs - Reginald
Jake Cherry - Nick Daley
Ricky Gervais - Dr. McPhee
Robin Williams - Teddy Roosevelt

Surprisingly, the blu-ray version of the film (which costs £15.98 from Amazon) has only a few special features, which are limited to a couple of commentary tracks and the theatrical trailers.

The picture quality isn't actually that impressive, with the darker scenes being particularly grainy, and poor representations of skin tones throughout the film. Therefore, the standard DVD version of Night at the Museum makes for an adequate purchase.

Summary: Family Friendy Film