Night at the Museum

It's a better than average CGI-fest, more often silly than funny. But it makes some good points about courage, self-respect, and the importance of learning about history.

With this cast, there should be more laughs, and that blame falls partially on the script, but equally on how awfully Levy paces the film.

Dark night of the soul is more like it.

What a dull, nice movie, wrenched from a wild premise and battered into docility.

A film that veers, often without much direction, between a family-friendly comic romp and an attempt to touch our souls with heartfelt emotion.

As mindless spectacle, this is reasonably entertaining.

This environment could be a CGI wonderland to teach audiences something about history, if only there were fun facts here and there. You’d think coming from a movie that takes place inside a museum the audience might learn a little, but you’d be wrong.

Fifteen years after its release, Night at the Museum is still a fun time.

Thankfully, the special-effects used to simulate the static exhibits coming to life (dinosaurs, statues, warriors etc) are both strong and varied enough to prevent a totally worn-out welcome.

A cinematic lump of coal.