'Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb' review, starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Dan Stevens and Ben Kingsley

For those who not only remember the Night at the Museum movies but also were clamoring for another, rejoice. A third and, supposedly, final film to the series, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, roars into theaters this holiday season.

While there may still be fans of this series, this sequel feels as ho-hum and half-assed as the previous chapters. In fact, Secret of the Tomb has the added benefit of being even less concerned with putting any context into their story. Making this all the more disappointing is when one remembers both Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney make two of their last cinematic appearances in this concern-less family adventure.

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) continues hosting his position as night security guard at the Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits keep coming to life at night and now participate in activities like watching/commenting on cat videos on YouTube. But there’s a problem, for the source of their power — the Tablet of Ahkmenrah — is dying out, and the exhibits are acting amok and are equally expiring.

In a fleeting effort to save his friends, Larry must take the tablet to a London museum, where the power is sourced, or something like that. Joining him are his son Nicky (Skyler Gisondo) and the exhibits of Theodore Roosevelt (Williams) and his love, Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck) along with Jedadiah (Owen Wilson), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Attila the Hut (Patrick Gallagher), Dexter the Money and a new museum addition, Laa the Neanderthal (Stiller). Together they must fix the tablet, or else most of them will cease to exist beyond plastic and rubber.

Before Secret of the Tomb began, I racked my brain to remember anything about the other two films, now released eight and five years ago, respectively. All I could recollect was a giant, dog-like skeleton dinosaur in the first movie, and then Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart in the second. Needless to say, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the series. So with that, this third film —by default — serves as the series best feature, if solely for creating a more arguably loose and inspired atmosphere than the others could obtain to my best recollection.

Like the other films, I had to be reminded, Secret of the Tomb also gets boggled down with ho-hum subplots of father-son dynamics and learning to hang up the ropes when its time. But all things considered, this installment doesn’t feel as burdened to develop its characters, so much as to have one last go-around with this concept and these “crazy” historical figures.

This would all be good and fine, had the film actually been contagiously enjoyable. But because Secret of the Tomb is so lazy and half-assed in its entire exception — from its storytelling, to its direction, to most of its primary cast, especially Stiller and Williams — you never get the sense the filmmakers and cast are really having fun. Save for Dan Stevens, whose scene-chewing impression of Sir Lancelot looks as though the dramatic British actor finally can let loose on set.

While there are some clever moments here and there, from a script by David Guion & Michael Handelman, Steve Levy’s film feels just like that: moments, not a plot. Despite a couple amusing set pieces and a nice cameo or two, there’s not a lot here to dissect or even enjoy. The jokes are predictable, the emotions are falsely strung and, worse of all, they have Ricky Gervais and Ben Kingsley, yet couldn’t make the former funny or the Academy Award-winning latter have anything productive to do. Kingsley sunk lower before (need I remind anyone of The Love Guru), but still.

It’s clear this is just an studio obligation for most people involved, so no one feels engaged or committed to this film. Nothing about Secret of the Tomb feels like everyone put their best foot forward, from the wonky CG and green screens to even the indiscernible art direction. Its talented cast is largely wasted, and this is made all the more crushing when knowing it’s among the last for a couple on board. Although, as a side note, it’s always wonderful to see Dick Van Dyke and Rooney on screen — no matter for how long or small — especially if the former comes shaking his groove thing with a couple gals like he does here.

If seeing Oscar nominees Coogan and Wilson rained on with urine against a comparatively tall monkey in Pompeii is your thing — as it was, apparently, for the gentlemen sitting next to me, who actually clapped at this moment — then you might enjoy this conclusive chapter in this comedy trilogy. Everyone else likely will be patiently waiting for this second sequel to conclude. They will be able to get on with their lives then forget the majority of this unremarkable return to talking statues and historical antics. I can attest it’ll not be hard to erase this feature from your memory.

Image courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com