Film: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dan Stevens, Rami Malek, Ben Kingsley, Patrick Gallagher, Hugh Jackman, Ricky Gervais, Rebel Wilson, Steve Coogan, Mickey Rooney
Director: Shawn Levy
And I don’t know about you but I really wouldn’t mind a new chapter in the Night at the Museum franchise starring Ben Stiller, who tries hard, so very hard to be comical, but fails. But I love him all the same; most of all, his eyes and the earnest expression on his face. Secret of the Tomb is the sequel to the 2009 film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It’s got an A-list cast and is touted as the third and final instalment of the trilogy. Sigh. As I said in the opening sentence, I wouldn’t mind chapter four and five and…
Chapter three has Larry (Ben Stiller) Daley and Company dashing across the globe (OK make that the Atlantic, considering it’s only the prologue that’s set in ancient Egypt where the excavation of a Pharaonic tomb is followed by the customary looting of the antiques (which wind up in museums in Europe and the US of A which, to their credit, have maintained and preserved the priceless artifacts wonderfully well).
But as it happens in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the tablet of Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) begins to corrode in the American Museum of Natural History whose very existence is threatened and must be saved by former security guard-turned special effects manager Larry. And so it comes to pass that Larry crosses the Pond (sorry, Atlantic) with the tablet and a few friends to the British Museum, in London to reunite with his parents Pharoah Mehrenkhare (Ben Kingsley) and Shepseheret (Anjali Jay) and halt the corrosion before the objects at the museum which come alive at night are rendered lifeless (that is their original state).
Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, and Ricky Gervais reprise their roles from the first two films. Mickey Rooney’s cameo and Williams’ Teddy Roosevelt bring a lump to the throat because we know they’ve passed away. Dan Stevens (from Downton Abbey which is coming soon on Indian TV) is all swash and buckle as Sir Lancelot pining for Camelot and Queen Guinevere.
Kids and adults alike will be thrilled by the adventures (I enjoyed them) but I am disappointed the film-makers invoke moral relativism and hark to Brokeback Mountain to imply you know what about Octavius the Roman soldier (Coogan) and Jed the cowboy (Wilson). I did find Larry’s Neanderthal alter-ego Laaa funny-sad especially in his scenes with quirky British Museum guard (Rebel Wilson).
Ronita Torcato
ronitatorcato@gmail.com
