Dir.
Shawn Levy, US, 2006, 109 mins
Cast: Ben Stiller, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams,
Carla Gugino, Bill Cobbs
Review by Justin Camilleri
In an attempt to retain
his home and convince his ex-wife (24’s Kim Raver)
that he is a role model for their son, Larry Daly (Stiller)
takes a job as a night security guard at The Museum of
Natural History. During Larry's watch, extraordinary things
begin to happen; a T-Rex skeleton runs riot around the
halls, miniature cowboys fight miniature Romans, cavemen
make fire, and Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher) is also
on the loose. The only 'person' Larry can turn to for help
is a wax figure of President Theodore Roosevelt (Williams).
The script is off to a promising start
but fails to maintain the momentum, falling short on the
thrill factor. The terrible T-Rex is barely more than a
playful doggy and the accursed mummy, the genesis of Larry's
somewhat unusual nightwatch, emerges from its sarcophagus
only to reveal a male model in need of a bit of fresh air.
There is also the whiff of a romance for Larry with the
museum curator (Cugino), but that's all it is. This is
not to say that the film is not filled with memorable moments,
such as Larry trying to communicate in babble mode with
Attila and his horde of axe-wielding barbarians, or when,
echoing Gulliver’s Travels, Larry
is tied by miniature cowboys to a railroad track, only for
the tiny locomotive to bounce harmlessly off his head. You
would also expect more from Robin Williams who has a reputation
of upstaging his fellow actors but whose performance here
is alarmingly bland. Similarly even Owen Wilson’s miniature
cowboy and and his ubiquitous pairing with Stiller fails
to sparkle. Even Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke are hardly
menacing and British born Ricky Gervais’ first Hollywood
debut seems wasted here, but the fault must be laid at the
feet of director Levy who fails to extract the best from
his performers.
A Night at the Museum is as good as
a family film as you'll find this Christmas, and it does
have some truly fantastic visual effects. However, given
the comedic pedigree of the cast, which also included Steve
Coogan, the film should have provided a lot more laughs
rather than overused comedy routines. This film reminded
me a lot of 1995’s Jumanji,which
also starred Robin Williams; both films prove that no amount
of astounding visual effects are a substitute for the importance
of a good script.
All in all, hugely entertaining for children but unlike
previous CGI-fuelled Christmas releases such as Harry
Potter or The
Chronicles of Narnia, this movie will soon be a distant
memory.
Released 26th December
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