Night at the Museum

[DotTheEyes]

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Long foretold as the number-one event film of the lucrative holiday season, Night at the Museum is a tolerable experience restrained from greatness by a deficiency in imagination.

With his every comedic tic on display, Ben Stiller stars as the new night watchman at NYC's American Museum of Natural History who is left to restore order after the displays come to magical life. To distend the length, sub-plots are introduced in which he must endear himself to his estranged family, romance the docent (an underused Carla Gugino), and stop a threat to the museum and its inhabitants.

Ben Stiller's adequate in the lead role, if uninspired. Superior are Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson as figurines from the Ancient Rome and Old West dioramas engaged in an ongoing feud. Each scene in which they appear in stolen by them.

As is expected in an expensive film such as this, the production values are top-notch, especially the gorgeous, oft-photorealistic visual effects. However, the script isn't up to snuff, with character motivations and plot dynamics shifting throughout for the sole purpose of advancing the plot, regardless of consistency or logic.

Overall, Night at the Museum is fairly entertaining, but it doesn't have the required level of pure wonder and is too filled with flaws to register as more than forgettable fluff.

My thumb is mildly pointing down.