Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

"When the lights go off the battle is on."

2009 1h 45m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 7,489

AdventureFantasyActionComedyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Hapless museum night watchman Larry Daley must help his living, breathing exhibit friends out of a pickle now that they've been transferred to the archives at the Smithsonian Institution. Larry's (mis)adventures this time include close encounters with Amelia Earhart, Abe Lincoln and Ivan the Terrible.

“When the lights go off the battle is on.”

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Cast

Ben Stiller
Larry Daley
Amy Adams
Amelia Earhart / Tess
Owen Wilson
Jedediah Smith
Hank Azaria
Kahmunrah / The Thinker / Abe Lincoln
Robin Williams
Theodore Roosevelt
Christopher Guest
Ivan the Terrible
Alain Chabat
Napoleon Bonaparte
Steve Coogan
Octavius

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Shawn Levy
Writers: Joel Venti, Marc Baird, Michael Anthony Jackson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$150M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Night at the Museum Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Shawn Levy, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ben Stiller and Amy Adams and Owen Wilson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "When the lights go off the battle is on.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shawn Levy directs. John Schwartzman behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. Don Zimmerman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$150M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 17 years ago.
3Part of the "Night at the Museum Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Shawn Levy, shot by John Schwartzman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Don Zimmerman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ben Stiller and Amy Adams and Owen Wilson carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "When the lights go off the battle is on.".
9IMDB entry: tt1078912 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "museum", "sequel", "magical object", "aftercreditsstinger".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: John Schwartzman
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: Don Zimmerman
Production design: Claude Paré
Costume design: Marlene Stewart
Makeup / hair: Sherry Linder-Gygli
VFX supervisor: Dan DeLeeuw
Sound: Craig Henighan
Stunt coordinator: Garrett Warren
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $150,000,000
Box office: $413,106,170
Return: 275% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Part of

Night at the Museum Collection

A series of movies starring Ben Stiller as a night guard of the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Also by

Shawn Levy

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-19
★ 6/10
Shawn Levy didn't waste any time cobbling together this sequel and though it's not terrible, it's all a bit silly. "Daley" (Ben Stiller) has made his fortune and "McPhee" (Ricky Gervais) is facing the worrying digitisation of his soon to be "interactive" museum. This is going to result in the relocation of some of the exhibits to the Smithsonian where the megalomanic Pharaoh "Kahmunrah" is poised to ally with Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone and Napoleon to form his own little axis of evil. Quickly, it falls to "Daley" and his assembled troop of recently transported, brave, exhibits to thwart this dastardly plan. To be fair, this film does move along well and has retained most of the cast from the first film - Robin Williams as the sagely Teddy Roosevelt and quite a dashing Rami Malek ("Ahkmenrah") as well as adding an enthusiastic performance from Amy Adams as the trail-blazing Amelia Earhart. It's all just a bit overly-theatrical for me, though - especially the really hammy Hank Azaria who just seems to be trying to do his best Robert Downey Jr impersonation of the menacing Pharaoh. It's really just anther vehicle for Ben Stiller to do what he does best, and if that's what you like then there is nothing to disappoint here - he does all that he needs to. For me, it's all just a little lazy with a denouement that offers little by way of jeopardy. It looks good, though, and again reminds us to go visit a museum some time.

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