6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
Night guard Larry Daley, now a successful entrepreneur, returns to the Museum of Natural History to visit his friends, only to learn that they are being shipped off into deep storage at the Smithsonian Institution. To make matters worse, the exhibits at the Smithsonian, including the pharaoh Kahmunrah, are suddenly coming to life--and they aren'’t at all happy about their new visitors. Determined to save his friends, Larry rushes to Washington, D.C., and makes his way into the inner workings of the largest museum complex in the world.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Robin WilliamsAdventure | 100% |
Family | 97% |
Comedy | 78% |
Fantasy | 68% |
Action | 63% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin (Traditional)
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
BD-Live
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
It’s the norm nowadays; one box office success spawns a drawn-out franchise, replete with young adult book tie-ins, videogame spin-offs, and other milk-able merchandising cash cows. It happened with Star Wars, it happened with Pirates of the Caribbean, and it’ll continue to happen as long as blockbusters keep skyrocketing past opening weekend intake records. I don’t think too many people expected Night at the Museum to be a smash hit, but once it crossed the $250 million gross domestic revenue mark, a sequel was as inevitable as the downfall of the Roman empire. I wasn’t exactly enamored with the first film—it was innocuous family fun, nothing more, nothing less—but when I heard that part two was going to be set at the Smithsonian, my inner 9-year-old got a sugar rush. Having grown up outside the beltway in northern Virginia, I’m somewhat of a Smithsonian-oholic, and the prospect of a film—even a kids’ film—set inside my favorite national treasure was enough to peak my interest. Sadly, not even the hallowed halls of the Smithsonian—passably replicated here on studio soundstages—can save the film from being just a little bit of history repeated.
The gang's all here...
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian comes alive on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. I popped in the included DVD for comparison and, as expected, there's no contest; the Blu-ray version is sharper, ultra- colorful, and much more vivid. Throughout the movie's run-time I was impressed by the depth of the color saturation. Steve Coogan's cloak is an absolutely intense red, Ben Stiller's guard uniform is a deep blue, and every corner of the frame bursts with color, from the bold golden yellows of Egyptian relics to Amy Adams' fiery orange hair. Contrast runs a little hot during the few outdoor daytime scenes, but once we get inside the museum the image is nearly perfectly tuned, with inky and substantial blacks and luminous but never overblown highlights, all coming together to create a satisfying sense of dimensionality and presence. The black and white scene inside the VJ- Day photograph is equally impressive, with a strong gradation of smooth grays. Clarity is excellent in both close-ups and long shots; just examine the intricate detailing on Hank Azaria's tunic or watch as he sits in Archie Bunker's recliner atop a pile of ornate treasures. Shot on 35mm, NATMBOTS definitely retains its filmic quality in this transfer, with a thin layer of fine grain that gives the image some cinematic warmth, and that carries no traces of DNR or overt edge enhancement. My only real complaint is that some of the digital inserts and artificial backgrounds can flatten the otherwise dimensional image.
Compared to the stellar visuals, Battle of the Smithsonian's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track comes as somewhat of a disappointment. With all the shenanigans and tomfoolery caused by museum pieces come to life, I was expecting a raucously immersive audio experience. Instead, I got a much more subdued track that's almost entirely front-heavy for the first half of the film. Even when the action heats up, there's really not as much engagement as there could have been. Take the scene inside the Air and Space Museum; there are rockets warming up and dozens of aircraft taking off and flying about, but the rear channels only get a few timid fly-bys and swooshes. Where are the loud cross-channel dynamics and pin-point pans? Or listen to the climactic battle scene; for a sequence of such action and intensity, the soundstage is comparatively barren. There are some nice flourishes—like the tinkling of shattered glass on the floor as the Wright Flyer crashes through a window—but the sound design is surprisingly anemic. That said, Alan Silvestri's larger-than-life score picks up some of the slack with deep bass, frenetic orchestration, and pounding electronic elements. Dialogue is almost always clean, clear, and easily understood, though there were a few moments when it could stand to be a little louder in the mix. There are some missed opportunities here for a truly bombastic audio track, but the mix is at least well-balanced and dynamically solid.
Commentary Tracks
First up is a solo track by director Shawn Levy, who stars off with unflagging enthusiasm but gets
a bit spotty toward the end of the track. More consistently listenable is the track by writers Robert
Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, but neither commentary offers anything more than your
standard outline of production details, story considerations, and behind-the-scenes
insights.
Scavenger Hunt Mode
A trivia track is always an effective way to increase replay value, and this disc includes two
difficulty levels that each offer separate trivia experiences. To play, you utilize the red, green,
blue, and yellow buttons on your remote to identify people and objects in the film.
The Curators of Comedy: Behind-the-Scenes of Night at the Museum 2 (1080p,
27:52)
Director Shawn Levy starts this substantial behind-the-scenes featurette by explaining that he
only wanted to do a sequel if he dreamt up an idea that was not only bigger, but also better. Most
of the focus here is on the cast—everyone seems to have something nice about everyone else—
but we also get an inside look at the construction of the film's enormous sets and period-accurate
props.
Historical Confessions: Famous Last Words (1080p, 6:29)
Each of the film's historical characters is given a chance here to say a few "last words" about
their legacies. The attempt is to be funny, but like the film, a lot of the improvised humor falls
flat.
Directing 101: A Day in the Life of Director/Producer Shawn Levy (1080p, 19:19)
This is exactly what it sounds like. We follow director Shawn Levy from his morning catered
breakfast to the evening's wrap, and everything in between, including the filming of several key
greenscreen sequences and a look at the dailies. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Levy's self-
congratulatory enthusiasm gets tiring after awhile.
Caveman Conversations: Survival of the Wittiest (1080p, 4:18)
The three cavemen from the film grunt incoherently in response to an interviewer's questions.
Not nearly as funny as those Geico commercials.
Museum Magic: Entering the World of the Photograph (1080p, 5:41)
Director Shawn Levy and visual effects supervisor Dan Deleeuw guide us through the film's
recreation of the famous VJ-Day photo of the sailor kissing a nurse.
Secret Doors and Scientists: Behind-the-Scenes of The American Museum of Natural History
(1080p, 15:58)
This is probably the best feature on the disc, and it only relates marginally to the film itself. In
Secret Doors and Scientists we're taken inside the research labs at the American Museum,
meeting a variety of scientists who explain their day-to-day operations.
Phinding Pharaoh (1080p, 4:50)
Through a sequence of screen tests and interviews with Hank Azeria, we're taken through the
progression of voices that led to the pharaoh's Boris Karloff-with-a-lisp vocalizations.
Show Me the Monkey Featurettes (1080p, 17:59)
There are three featurettes here showing the on-set monkey-wrangling, but the real reason to
watch is Crystal, the ridiculously cute and talented primate who stars in the film and has an IMDB
listing longer than that of most actors.
The Jonas Brothers in Cherub Bootcamp (1080p, 3:53)
Everybody's favorite tweener boy group goes through an intense training regiment for their
appearance as cherubs in the film.
Deleted Scenes (1080p, 26:44)
Eleven deleted scenes are included, along with an alternate ending. All are available with optional
commentary by director Shawn Levy.
Gangster Levy (1080p, 1:57)
For the museum's Al Capone display, director Shawn Levy needed a clip of gangsters firing
machine guns in slow motion. When he couldn't dredge one up from the archives, he decided to
film one himself, staring himself.
Gag Reel (1080p, 8:10)
Yes, an 8-minute gag reel. There are some knee-slappers in here—mostly from Jonah Hill and
Hank Azaria—but you'll have to sit through a lot of flubbed lines to get to them.
Fox Movie Channel Presents (SD)
There are two installments of Fox Movie Channel Presents here. In "Making a Scene" (9:36) we
see the production of the sequence inside the Air and Space Museum, and in "World Premiere"
(5:29) the figurative red carpet is rolled out for the film's stars, who answer a few questions
about the production.
Trailers (1080p)
Includes high definition trailers for Aliens in the Attic, Fame, Amelia,
(500) Days of Summer, Post Grad, All About Steve, and Glee.
While Battle of the Smithsonian is definitely just more of the same, it's at least a lot more, with bigger action set-pieces, a larger cast of comedians, and much more spacious museum to explore. I couldn't personally get into the film, but this really is a top-notch Blu-ray package, with almost faultless picture quality, a solid audio track, and hours of supplementary materials. Plus, you get a DVD that you can chuck into the kids' room and a digital copy that you can load onto your portable entertainment device, if you're so inclined. If you liked the first Night at the Museum, then this sequel is an obvious purchase. Otherwise, I'd recommend a rental first.
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Lenticular Faceplate
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