Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Prequels:
• “Night at the Museum” (2006)
• “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (2009)

All seems well at the Museum of Natural History in New York. The place buzzes with excitement as Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), the museum’s night guard, preps for the grand opening of the planetarium exposition at the museum. Thanks to the help of his friends—the wax figurines of Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacajawea, and others that come to life at night because of the magical tablet of Ahkmenrah—it looks like the evening is going to be a success. That is, until every exhibit in the museum starts going nuts. The life-like constellations from the new planetarium start attacking the visiting VIPs, Teddy Roosevelt aims his gun at someone’s head, and all of the animals wreak havoc among the banquet tables, as frightened visitors run from the building. A night with so much promise ends in disaster. When it’s all over, Teddy and the other exhibits have no memory of what they did.

As Larry soon discovers, the magical malfunction is linked to corrosion that has been slowly spreading over Ahkmenrah’s golden tablet. If Larry and his friends don’t figure out how to stop the corrosion, soon the entire tablet will be useless, and its magic will end. No more magic, no more living exhibits. Without the magic, Teddy, Sacajawea, Octavius, Jed and the others will be silent and still forever. Not even Ahkmenrah himself, however, knows the cause of the corrosion or how to repair the tablet. He does know one person who would have the answers they are looking for, though: his father, the pharaoh Merenkahre. But he just happens to be on display at the British Museum in London.

Undaunted by the distance and determined to save their friends, Larry and his son Nick (Skylar Gisondo) take the tablet to England, bringing the whole team with them, and set out to learn the secret of the tomb.

Despite its simplistic and somewhat clichéd plot, “Night at the Museum 3” is an exciting flick for the whole family, filled with laughs, imagination, and kid-friendly adventures. While its biggest attraction is the clean comedy, this film also touches on important themes of friendship, fatherhood, and loyalty. I especially appreciated the movie’s depiction of the relationship between Larry and his son, Nick. Unlike most on-screen parent-child relationships, Larry and Nick are shown communicating in a mature and level-headed manner. Their conversations do not involve yelling, slamming doors, and raised tempers, but instead display an unprecedented level of clear communication and mutual respect.

In general, Larry seem to follow the command of Ephesians 6:4, which says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children.” He does this by treating his son as an adult and as an individual, rather than belittling him and his desires. Throughout the film, he also learns to value the time he gets to spend with his son and to recognize what a blessing Nick is in his life. In addition, Nick generally shows honor to his father, conforming to God’s command in verses one through three.

Near the beginning of the movie, however, Nick disrespects his father by throwing a dance party in their apartment while Larry is gone. Like any teen party, the scene has its share of loud music and red Solo cups, but the camera shows no underdressed girls, no couples making out, and no inappropriate dancing—keeping the film “PG”.

A few other “PG” moments involving dancing include a scene in which Dick Van Dyke’s character busts some moves in the nursing home with a group of old ladies and a closing scene in which all the characters break out their best moves. In this scene, one couple is shown slow dancing. While discussing Van Dyke’s character with Larry, an elderly employee at the museum says that “Cecil Fredericks was the sexiest night guard we’ve ever had—present company excluded.”

In some of the other more risqué moments of the film, a Neanderthal and another character kiss, Ahkmenrah’s mother wears a low-cut dress, a few statues of scantily-clad ancients make an appearance, and Larry affectionately kisses the capuchin monkey. Although surprisingly minimal, toilet humor also makes an appearance. A character is nearly hit in the crotch several times, Dexter the monkey is shown peeing on two occasions, and a new character mentions that her boyfriend thinks her hair-do looks like “golden pooh sitting on [her] shoulder.”

Compared to the previous two films, this third installment of the “Night at the Museum” franchise has much less destruction and violence, although kids looking for a bit of action will not be disappointed. We witness an armored knight dueling the live skeleton of a triceratops and, later, three characters battling a “mythical snake demon” that has come to life.

Although the destruction is not nearly as debilitating as in “Night at the Museum 2,” this movie has its share of out-of-control museum exhibits and broken glass. Defibrillators make appearances throughout the film, and a couple characters (both good and bad) are shown being electrocuted, although the good character doesn’t seem to suffer much damage from the event. In addition, the miniature characters, Octavius and Jed, find themselves in a number of perilous situations, one of which involves lava and a miniature volcano.

The film also includes some scenes that, although they do not fit the category of “violent,” certainly should be classified as “slightly disturbing.” In one scene, a paranoid man aggressively grabs a young boy, prophesying that “the end will come.” Later, a character eats packing peanuts and, in a different scene, another character promises that “someday, we will drink dragon’s blood together.” A boy is held captive with a knife blade at his throat, and an Egyptian promises to bury another character with honors, assuring the character that he will have all his organs removed and put in separate containers. In addition, a wax character’s nose begins to melt, creating a comical (and somewhat gruesome) effect, while another character’s face begins to deteriorate as a result of the tablet’s gradual loss of power, resulting in a deathly and frightening sight.

Although I did not catch any misuses of the Lord’s name, “d***” is used once and “h***” is used three times. One character exclaims, “where the devil,” and several characters use the words “heck,” “dang,” and “gosh.” While the Christian God is never explicitly mentioned, several characters discuss “gods,” in one scene. When Merenkahre asserts that he is descended from Rah and that the Egyptian gods are the only true gods, Larry tells him that he tries to be open-minded, mentioning his own Jewish heritage while also affirming that Attila the Hun and Sacagawea both worship different gods, as well.

The whole concept of the magical Egyptian tablet also brings up some spiritual topics. Although they are not all in accordance with biblical Christianity, these references to religion and spirituality can serve as discussion starters for families viewing this film.

Overall, I enjoyed “Night at the Museum 3.” The humor is generally very tasteful, and I found the depictions of friend and family relationships to be very refreshing. For some families, it may not be worth seeing in theaters, but I recommend renting it. Most will enjoy this final trip to the museum where history comes to life—literally.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Minor

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