Movie of the Week: Night at the Museum 3 - Secret of the Tomb

[jacey]

I resisted Night at the Museum when it did the rounds of the cinemas because it didn't look like my sort of film, but caught it on TV just before NatM2 came out and was surprised to discover that it was much better than I expected, sweet and funny with a splash of tension and mild peril.  Hence I also enjoyed NatM2 and therefore was prepared to enjoy Night at the Museum 3. If it didn't quite live up to the first two movies it still didn't disappoint.

Ben Stiller is one of those actors I always underrate, but he's actually a very good at creating comedy while playing straight. In the third movie the team of usual suspects set off to the British Museum to try to fix the magic Egyptian tablet that animates the museum exhibits at night. Stiller is Larry, the night guard at the museum. There are good turns from Steve Coogan at Octavius and Owen Wilson as Jed reprising their love-hate relationship as the miniature centurion and the cowboy. Crystal the Capuchin monkey acts her socks off again. This movie is notable for being his last movie appearance of Robin Williams (as Teddy Roosevelt)  before his untimely death last year and the penultimate movie for Mickey Rooney who bowed out last April, age 93.

Larry is having problems with his teenage son who is showing signs of kicking over the traces as he approaches college application stage and his magical job at the museum is in crisis as the Tablet of Ahkmenrah begins to deteriorate, jeopardising the nocturnal lives of the museum inhabitants. The actual solution to the problem comes a little easily but in the meantime there's mayhem ion the British Museum. Effects, as usual, are very well done and the comedy level is smiley rather than laugh out loud funny, but the movie's heart is in the right place and there's a bittersweet ending which wraps up the trilogy reasonably well.

A special mention for Hugh Jackman playing himself (briefly).