Every so often I will see a movie that unexpectedly cracks me up. Some turn out to be well loved (Galaxy Quest), some are universally hated (The live action Grinch) and some are just not well known (The Man who knew too Little). I was not a massive fan of the first NATM, but there was something about the trailer for this movie that unexpectedly cracked me up. It is inexplicable and I do not know why, but The Thinker with a Brooklyn accent, a giant Abe Lincoln statue waving his hands and Hank Azaria making fun of Darth Vader all just seemed to click for me. I was not sure how the rest of the movie would turn out, but I was surprisingly excited for this thing. Then I started to wonder if this would be one of those movies that I found extremely funny for some unknown reason.
Larry Daley has become a very successful person and in doing so has forgotten about his friends back at the museum. He visits every so often, but he goes months without going in there. On one particular visit, he is made aware that most of the exhibits are being shipped to the archives at the Smithsonian because the museum is getting a face lift. Daley is not really as devastated as he should be, even after Teddy Roosevelt(Robin Williams) informs him that the special tablet that makes all of the exhibits come to life will not be going, so his friends are living for the last night. The exhibits get shipped, but the monkey stole the tablet and now everything in The Smithsonian has come to life and Larry has to go to that museum and help his friends who are being hunted by Kahmunrah(Hank Azaria). Kamunrah, a fictional Egyptian ruler, enlists Ivan the Terrible and Al Capone to help him get the tablet because the tablet can help Kahmunrah rule the world. When he gets the tablet, the code is changed and Larry is charged with finding the new code or else Kamunrah will kill Jedidiah(Owen Wilson). Larry and his new pal Amelia Earhart(Amy Adams) run all over the museum looking for help with the code all the while Larry's old friends and a few new ones are trapped inside a crate.
I know I should not think this is funny, but I seriously laughed my ass off. There are a few scenes that are just so outrageously funny I could not believe they were in this movie. Yes, it is a totally one dimensional movie with 100% one dimensional characters and it is nothing more than a big dumb kids movie, but it cracked me up. I could have done without the whole opening, but the scene with Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill is pure comic gold and my guess is that it was not scripted. Hill, I thought, would break out after Superbad, and I do not know if he went away intentionally, but he was on his game in his one scene in this movie. From there the movie launches into pure absurd nonsense and thank goodness for it. Bill Hader's General Custer is perfectly blustery, Hank Azaria's Kamunrah killed me. Using a light lisp that negates any fear he tries to arouse, Azaria delivers every line with over the top gusto and we are all the better for it. Wilson, while not in the film nearly enough, gives his usual line delivery making every line funny. Azaria voicing Abe Lincoln and The Thinker also provide great laughs, even if The Thinker does all his best work in the trailer.
The effects are pretty awesome and the sequence with the paintings is very cool. I loved the black and white and we got a nice Jay Baruchel cameo that pays off during the credits in a nice way, even if it literally makes no sense. The Jonas brothers prove they can be not annoying as they provide the singing voices for some cupid type statues singing and trying to get Amelia and Larry together. I really enjoyed the sequence in the Air and Space museum and wish they had spent more time in there. It is a PG sequel yet the effects looked 100 times better than Wolverine. Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into this movie, which is usually something I find annoying, but for some reason it was endearing here. Everyone is having so much unabashed fun, that it is impossible not to get caught up in it a little bit. The 300 spoof sequence is another straight up winner. With Jedediah and Octavius wielding mini swords, they go through a slow motion slicing scene, but all they can do is stab through shoes, and when the slow motion ends and the camera pulls up, all we see are bad guys hobbling around grabbing their feet. Another POV shot that I loved, was Octavius running full force through the lawn of The White House and then the camera pulling out and we see nothing, but it pulls back in and we get big music and intense visuals and then pull back and nothing. I believe something like that happened in the first one, but it works to great effect here, as well.
The last thing I want to mention is Amy Adams. Her Amelia Earhart is blessed with the pluck, dialog and attitude of a 1930s screwball romantic comedy and watching her play off of Stiller's fumbling and bumbling character is priceless. Adams is clearly reveling in playing something so silly and fun and it shows. She is about the most charming actress out and she really adds a nice energy and spunk to the whole movie. She is slumming it, sure, but when you get to say things like "Crimey, we've been jimmy-jacked" wouldn't you want to slum it?
NATM:BOTS is a silly movie that does not deserve to be as funny as it is, but it is that funny and it is a movie I will probably enjoy for a long time, but probably in the privacy of my own home, like the guilty pleasure it is. I don't have any real complaints, even though the critic in me wants to have them. The movie is all kinds of fun and sometimes a movie just has to be fun to be a success. Ben Stiller does get kind of lost in the whole thing, but I am okay with that because this movie is all about the spectacle and when you have a giant Abe Lincoln running around spouting infinite wisdom, the regular actors are probably going to get lost. So, I guess we can add this to the list of movies that unexpectedly cracked me up.
Final Grade: B+
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