Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

As franchises go, what "Raiders of the Lost Ark" did for that franchise in the adventure realm, "Night at the Museum" has done for this franchise in the comedy realm. Every time you go to see one of these films, one realizes that you can count on it being funny, adventurous, fun, and rollicking which is why we have been offered a third installment entitled "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb".

When an Egyptian tablet, which gives life to the museum exhibits, begins to fade, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) rallies his friends (the exhibits) including Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) and Ahkmenrah's father, Merenkahre (Ben Kingsley) in order to find the cause of the tablet deteriorating. They span the globe to Egypt and London where Larry enlists help from his counterpart, security guard of that museum, Tilly (Rebel Wilson). Question of the day is: Can these friends find the source of the deteriorating tablet and how to repair it before it's too late?

Others to round out the cast are Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee, Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot, Skyler Gisondo as Nick Daley, Larry's teenage son, Mizuo Peck as Sacajawea, Dick Van Dyke as Cecil, Mickey Rooney as Gus, Bill Cobbs as Reginald, Brad Garrett as Easter Island Head, Percy Hines-White as C.J. Fredericks, Brennan Elliott as Robert Fredericks and Crystal the Monkey as Dexter.

This was effectively directed by Shawn Levy ("Big Fat Liar" '02, "Just Married" '03, "Cheaper by the Dozen" '03, "The Pink Panther" '06, "Night at the Museum" '06, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" '09, "Date Night" '10, "Real Steel" '11, "The Internship" '13, "This is Where I Leave You" '14) plus TV series and movies. By his very resume, this guy knows a thing or two about comedy-- his comic timing and pacing is basically second to none. As dysfunctional as most comedies are today--directing, writing, even acting, this pro will continue seeing more projects he can even handle. It was written by David Guion, and Michael Handelman based on a story by Mark Friedman, Guion and Handelman, which is based on characters created by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant. Even though there were a ton of sources, it was remarkably written well. Obviously the original of this franchise was the best-- fresh and original, this still was able to hold its own as an avenue to see where this story could even go. The visual effects predominantly created by MPC (Moving Picture Company) and Digital Domain were absolutely seamless. Such as how did they show dinosaur bones running down a corridor?

I wish to dedicate this film to the memories of both Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams. Both gave us all a vast body of creative work that we will never forget. Rest in peace to you both.

The premise of this is solid: exhibits in a museum coming alive after dark until dawn is very clever, and one that has a never ending list of plots. So hold on to your hats, because another installment could come.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                           Rated: PG-13                             97mins.