‘Night at the Museum 3’ brings history to life in hilarious adventure
January 14, 2015
The “Night at the Museum” films revolve around night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) and the challenges he faces during his shifts at the Museum of Natural History in New York. A tablet belonging to the Egyptian pharaoh Akmenrah (Rami Malek) encrypted with magic allows all of the exhibits in the museum to come to life at night.
The third chapter of Larry’s adventures, titled “Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb,” begin with his realizing that the tablet is decaying and therefore, causing strange and unusual behaviors in the exhibits when they come to life. According to Akmenrah, the only people who know how to stop and reverse the deterioration are the pharoah’s parents, who are in an exhibit in the British Museum in London.
Larry embarks on a journey to London to find Akmenrah’s parents to allow him to fix the tablet in the New York, affecting among others Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) and Dexter, a playful Capuchin monkey.
When Larry takes the tablet to London, the British Museum comes to life for the very first time. One of the London exhibits is Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens), one of King Arthur’s knights. Sir Lancelot proves valuable to the group as he uses his lance to save the visitors from dangerous exhibits on multiple occasions.
However, realizing the tablet’s value and believing it is the Holy Grail, Sir Lancelot steals it to present it to his love, Guinevere.
After a wild chase around London, Larry desperately reasons with the knight before it is too late to restore the tablet to its original condition and the exhibits are rendered dormant forever.
Directed by Shawn Levy, the film is extremely comedic with an emphasis on slapstick humor. The stunts in the film are skillfully executed, which provide the action and adventure.
The 98-minute, PG film features a variety of characters, ranging from historical figures to two-dimensional painting subjects. Each character is well developed and historically and culturally accurate. The “Night at the Museum” films provide unique perspectives to what most people view as boring museum exhibits.
“Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb” is a hilarious, adventurous fast-paced film which all age groups will enjoy. However, parental guidance is recommended for children 8 and younger due to some material that may be difficult for younger children to understand.