Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Yesterday I made spontaneous plans to go to the cinema and watch the new Night at the Museum film with a few others. I'll admit that I was apprehensive as to whether I would enjoy myself before it started, however I was very pleasantly surprised by the end. Funnily enough I haven't watched the first and second film of the franchise but did know the overall gist of the story which is that at night, the animals and people within the museum come to life. I have never written a 'review' of a film before but thought that I would just share my opinions of it and whether I would recommend it. 

This film centres around a 'magic tablet' which is ultimately what allows the museum to come to life at night time, due to a pharaoh in Egypt who had it made for his son in order for his family to always be together, despite their deaths. Larry (Ben Stiller) the security guard takes charge of finding a way of fixing the tablet when it begins to deteriorate, leading to the museum exhibitions feeling worse across the duration of the film. Eventually he takes his son Ricky along with the exhibitions to a different museum and awakes the pharaoh, using the tablet, who knows the answer to fixing the magic tablet and enabling the exhibitions to continue coming to life. Of course, there are obstacles placed along the journey which builds the storyline around Larry and each of the exhibitions.

That is what I enjoyed most about the film, the way in which the exhibitions are in fact central characters that play an active role as a group alongside Larry and his son. I don't want to give the whole storyline away in this post because that kind of defeats the object of me recommending it as a film for you to go and watch... You also feel a connection with history whilst watching also which is something that you don't always get when watching a 21st century new release. My favourite museum character has to be Teddy (Robin Williams) just because of his lovely nature and his relationship with Larry. He seems to be the leader of the group, aside from Larry, as he often advices him along their way and is wise perhaps due to his age in comparison to the others. It was of course really lovely to see that the film was 'for' Robin Williams, displayed during the end credits. Ricky Gervais' character was well played and funny although not present too often throughout the film whilst Pitch Perfect's Fat Amy as the other museum's security guard was a stroke of genius - hilarious!

I would definitely recommend this film to anyone of any age really as it is full of action, humour and adventure that can be enjoyed by everyone. Like I said it doesn't seem to matter that I haven't seen the previous films also, allow this release has made me want to go back and watch them! The sad thing is that this is the last film of the franchise, or that's what the ending suggested anyway. All in all a brilliant film that should please the whole family!