Night at the Museum 2

With a slightly corny title the original Night at the Museum turned out to be surprisingly good for a children's film full of good gags and stunning CGI. It's a shame that the second appears to have lost some of the magical lustre of the original.

Following on from the first film Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has given up his job as night guard in the Museum of Natural History to pursue his own business. But time spent away from the magical exhibits that come alive at night leaves him pining for his old job.

Larry's return is far from a warm homecoming when he discovers many of the exhibits are due to be shipped to the biggest museum in the world -- the Smithsonian. And among them is the magical golden tablet Egyptian tablet which brings the exhibits to life.

Larry quickly discovers that their presence has awoken the exhibits of the Smithsonian, including evil Egyptian ruler Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest) and Napoleon (Alain Chabat) who have intentions of taking over the historic complex and then the world.

In a similar style to the first film war breaks out between the exhibits, albeit this time it's more evil versus good rather than every-exhibit-for-himself. Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson and Robin Williams help liven up an otherwise repetitive plot with some good jokes.

And the giant T-Rex skeleton also makes a welcome return to running down the hallways and causing general mayhem.