NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN.

I'm not sure what all the hatin' is for with this movie. It has its flaws, but it's still decent entertainment. The movie picks up a few years after the first, and Larry (Ben Stiller) has quit his night guard job to move on to 'bigger and better' things as an inventor. Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais) sells out with the museum, turning everything to the technology side of things. So that means quite a few of the exhibits have to go. And to where else? The stock room of the Smithsonian. But Larry gets a call from Jed (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) that all hell's broke loose, since the monkey stole the tablet of Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), which was supposed to stay back at the previous museum. But now Ahkmenrah's older brother, Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), wants to get a hold of the tablet, as it apparently has the power to bring back an army of the dead so that Kahmunrah can take over the world. So now Larry must team up with old friends and new, including Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and General Custer (an almost unrecognizable Bill Hader), to fight Kahmunrah and his new henchmen, including Al Capone (Jon Bernthal), Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), and Napoleon (Alain Chabat). And, of course, there are a thousand other things/characters/people that show up in the process...

Honestly, the movie wasn't bad. It has an almost unbearably slow and unfunny beginning, though. And the movie tries way too hard at times, just resulting in awkward moments of unfunny. And the CGI isn't the greatest, and there's way too much of it. Not to mention a few logical issues (the tiny Museum of Natural History has night guards, but the multi-building Smithsonian doesn't have any?).

However, once you get to the first major cameo appearance of the film, Jonah Hill, the movie starts to pick up considerably. And the Jonah Hill scene really is funny. Ironically, one of the best jokes in the film is basically the exact same joke, but extended on later in the movie by Hank Azaria. And the movie has a few good cameos, including Craig Robinson and Jay Baruchel (as well as 'that guy' Clint Howard, though I don't think he counts). And make sure to stick during the beginning of the credits for a fun joke with Jay Baruchel.

And the movie is pretty funny, though, like I said, it does try too hard at times. One of the biggest issues is that it tries to do too much. There are too many characters. Not to mention you can tell how every little thing is going to be important at some point in the movie, as Larry's initial walkthrough of the Smithsonian is a virtual "Chekhov's Gun" scenario. There's a focus on every little figure that Larry walks by as if ensuring "hey, make sure to remember this for later on!" But some of the characters were rather pointless. Although he's there the majority of the time, Al Capone was wasted. And the scene with Darth Vader had no purpose other than to get a laugh from Star Wars fans (it's basically no more than what you see in the trailer... maybe a minute longer). Oh, and did the movie really need to include the Jonas Brothers (regardless of not even physically being there?). Though, intentional or not, they do get a good jab in at their singing.

But there is some fun action. There's a great spoof of 300 near the end with a funny payoff. And the final fight between Larry and Kahmunrah is epic, though the music of the scene really helped (I want to find that song). That had to be one of my favorite moments of the movie.

There's not really a lot to discuss. It's a fun family film. There's good comedy, good action, and overall good entertainment. Though they never explain what happened between Larry and the Carla Gugino character from the first film. She's just... not there. Anyway, if you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one. It ups the scales a lot, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Though the real scene stealer? Amy Adams' butt.


I Am McLovin!

(P.S. Must the Judd Apatow gang be in everything these days?)

RUN FATBOY RUN.

As Shaun of the Dead is basically one of my top favorite movies of all time, and Hot Fuzz is amazingly awesome, as well, I couldn’t help but go to see another Simon Pegg-vehicle (even if it’s directed by David Schwimmer, which still boggles my mind). Run Fatboy Run is about Dennis (Simon Pegg) who runs out on his bride-to-be, Libby (Thandie Newton), on their wedding day… and she was pregnant, as well. Five years later, he’s an out-of-weight lingerie store security guard who rents a small apartment underneath an Indian father/daughter. He still gets to see his son and such, but then he discovers that Whit (Hank Azaria) is now seeing Libby, and it’s pretty serious. Whit is also running this marathon that’s coming up in less than a month, so Dennis decides to try and prove he can finish something in his life by running and finishing the marathon, as well. Unfortunately, he kind of gets stuck in the situation when his best friend, Gordon (Dylan Moran), bets more than he has that Dennis will finish the race. So now they must work as hard as possible to get Dennis into better shape in time for the marathon so he can prove himself to his ex and his son and gain their respect (and maybe, just maybe, win her back, too).

I’ve read it all about this movie: If you liked Shaun or Fuzz, you’ll hate this one! That’s not even remotely true. See, I usually only laugh at movies in theater because other people are laughing and it’s contagious (only to later discover when I buy the movie and watch it alone at home that it wasn’t nearly as funny as I remember). But because there were literally only 3 other people in the theater with me, I can safely say that I laughed so much at this movie because it was truly funny. I actually laughed so much I thought the other people were gonna think I was weird for laughing at stuff they weren’t.

The acting was great, as always, and Simon Pegg has great comedic timing, as did Dylan Moran. One issue, though, is that he really isn’t fat as much as he’s relatively out of shape. Though the title really comes from an insult by another character. And the beginning is a bit slow at points, but once it really starts, it gets goin. Another slightly bothersome thing was that you have no idea why they used an American actor (Hank Azaria) for the Whit character until towards the end of the movie when it releases a plot point. But until then, you’re like “Interesting that they used an American for the role when the whole thing is set in England…” Also, funny side-note… Dennis has a poster of Team America in his apartment. I just thought that was mildly humorous in a few different ways…

I also really liked that it did something similar back to Shaun and Fuzz, which is where a lot of things are repeated in different scenarios (though not to the degree of the previous two movies). There’s really not all that much more I can say about it. Simon Pegg wins again. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was no Shaun or Fuzz, but it was still done amazingly well.

A Keanu 'Whoa'