Sean Lamberger Night watchman Ben Stiller takes slapstick abuse from an entourage of famous figures in New York's museum of natural history. There's a superficial subplot about an ancient tablet, responsible for the wax statues and figurines coming to life every night, but the film isn't all that concerned with making sense of it and neither am I. So we're basically left with a hundred minutes of easy sight gags, base caricatures and flashy effects, mixed with overplayed reaction shots and hand-rubbing evil villains. Oh, and there's an empty dash of sappy divorced father / distanced son bonding mush. I get it, this is a broad family comedy and I can't expect much. My six-year-old boys enjoyed it, and have requested it again since, so it hits the target audience. Plus it merits points for making a trip to the museum and a bit of archival fact-finding seem like less of a chore to younger viewers, so, yay education. Robin Williams is enjoyable as a self-conscious Teddy Roosevelt statue, and Mickey Rooney is hilarious in a set of fiery, brief guest spots, but that's about all that merits remembering. I'm in no hurry to sit through it again.

Tweekums Larry Daley needs to get a job quickly if his ex-wife is to allow him to keep seeing his son; he finds a job working as the night-watchman at a New York museum. It turns out that it is no ordinary museum; each night all of the exhibits come to life! This means he has to contend with a rampaging T-Rex skeleton, assorted animals, Attila the Hun as well as miniature cowboys and Romans who want to fight each other. He does get some help though; from a waxwork of Teddy Roosevelt. He learns that the strange goings on are due to a valuable Egyptian tablet. After his first night he is ready to quit but doesn't because of his son; after the second he is almost fired then on the third night he invites his son to see his work… this will be his toughest night yet as he must unite the living exhibits to thwart a robbery.This film is good harmless fun that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The story is fun with plenty of laughs and a tension without being too scary. There is no offensive material beyond the sight of a monkey urinating on Larry. The special effects are really rather good making it easy to suspend disbelief and accept that everything has come to life. Ben Stiller does a fine job as Larry, a believable ordinary man caught up in an extraordinary situation. He gets fine support from Robin Williams as Roosevelt; and plenty of other familiar actors including Dick Van Dyke, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais amongst others. Overall I'd say that I enjoyed this more than I would and would recommend it to anybody wanting some family friendly entertainment.

LeonLouisRicci Laughing in the Face of the Critics, This Very Light-Hearted Family Comedy Managed to Come In as the Second Highest Grossing Film of the Year and Spawned Two Sequels So Far.Ben Stiller is the Catalyst to All of the Museum Mayhem and He Does Yeoman Work Helped Along by a Well Known Supporting Cast Featuring Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Carla Gugino, and Ricky Gervais. Small Parts Go to Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney.The Highlights of the Movie are Really the Clever Coming to Life Displays (only at night) of the Many and Varied Historical Representations. It's Mostly Dumbed Down and Slapstick is the Flavor of the Day. Hardly an Inspiration for Inspiring Young Eggheads or Curious Children in General.But, the "Come-On" Seemed to Have Worked. The Real Museum in NYC Found its Attendance Up 20% During its Run. Mostly Going for Cheap Laughs the Movie is Shallow Stuff Considering the Educational Template.However, it Can Be a Fun Time for Families and is One of Those that is Entertaining Enough and Could Easily Be Given a Pass for its Brainless Script. Good Enough to Recommend and its PG Rating is Rare for Non-Animated Movies These Days.

digitalbeachbum Take your brain out and set it aside. This movie is a good example of simplistic fun for the family and kids, nothing more. The dialog is really simple and the acting is there as a good support for a weak story which has plenty of plot mistakes.It is worth the time to rent but I can't find it in me to want to own the DVD or download the movie. It just isn't over the top which they should have done with this movie. I mean, they could have taken it to another level of quality.The actors all do their parts and the CGI is very acceptable.I recommend at least watching this once.