Almost a decade back when the museum pieces came alive at night, we had a magical anarchy on display. It was never meant to be an intelligent piece of cinema but when exhibits from different time periods interacted it lent a certain whimsical quality to the narrative that made it little more than a daft comedy.
However, a decade later, in its third edition, the museum has lost not just its novelty but the commitment of its watchdog, Ben Stiller, as well.
He goes through the motions as director Shawn Levy tries to imbue life into the specimens one last time.
After a dreary prologue, when Levy comes to the point we reckon that he has some arsenal up his sleeve for the lovable exhibits like Teddy Roosevelt (late Robin Williams) and Dexter, the capuchin monkey refuse to dance to the tune of Larrey Daley (Stiller). And what they threaten to do make you anxious. As one discovers that this erratic behaviour is because the life giving Egyptian tablet has developed a fault, the franchise promises to break away from the feel good, syrupy contrivances.
However, as the action shifts to London so that mummy Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek) can be reunited with his father (Ben Kingsley), Levy loses track and interrupts the flow by focusing for far too long on a bland search for Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavious Steve Coogan who fall down a duct.
In an attempt to recreate the chaos of previous instalments, he resorts to lazy gags, unimaginative CGI and predictable situations.
Apart from Daley’s intimate conversations with his growing son, what works are some of the new additions. Dan Stevens effortlessly walks into the character of Lancelot, who thinks that the tablet could be the Holy Grail he is searching for. The scene where he stops the performance of Camelot and takes on Hugh Jackman is truly hilarious. Similarly, Rebel Wilson as the British counterpart of Stiller proves to be a scene stealer as the bored night watch woman looking for some action. Also, when the Egyptian Pharaoh comments on Daley’s Jewish origins it leads to an amusing conversation but somehow it seems Levy is not interested in raising the bar of the franchise and keeps returning to the same old physical humour and even there fails to inject any fresh lease of life. Williams lends grace to the humour in his last hurrah but his efforts are not reciprocated for the benchmark seems to be that the dim-witted caveman Laah doesn’t feel out of place.
Levy will get the kids one more time but will have to face reluctant parents.
