Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

After a brief hiatus, the theaters are once again hopping with summer releases, so on we go to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

PLEASE NOTE - SPOILERS BELOW:

1. Opening sequences can be troublesome for movies, and this was the case here as the cast gets packed in a variety of craft store stuffs such as raffia and Styrofoam peanuts, which are definitely not archival storage supplies for proper artifact handling. The diorama men would be individually enclosed in archival wrap and the others would be heavily wrapped and packed for transport. Also of note is the production mistake with Sacajawea being packed in mossy stuff but unpacking herself from peanuts.

2. Stiller’s sidekick monkey makes another appearance and is properly introduced as a Capuchin monkey, but our brilliant security guard continues on and misidentifies it as a ‘rare breed.’ Capuchins are a group of small monkeys from Central and South America that are often recognized as organ grinder monkeys or kept as exotic pets. They live in groups up in the trees and are most active during the day, when they forage for food. They are fairly prevalent and are known to pillage fields and crops, becoming troublesome to nearby human populations. Recently they have become regionally rare due to habitat destruction but they are not currently listed as rare or endangered.

3. There is reoccurring octopus that is consistently seeking water after being released from his daytime cave and there are quite a few issues with it. First, octopi are not covered in slime or mucus. They have fairly a smooth body covering which is slippery when wet but does not ooze any additional liquids via glands. What they can exude, as a normal defensive function, is ink, which I was a little shocked that I didn’t see incorporated into the film as it seemed like a comedic no brainer. And speaking of no brainer, most people know that octopus live in marine environments like the ocean! Their body systems operate in salt water alone and are not adapted for life in fresh water. This would make it extremely difficult to survive when dumped in the Washington D.C. Reflecting Pool, which is not a body of saltwater.

4. Amelia Earhart takes the 1903 Wright Flyer from the National Air and Space Gallery out for a spin with better results than Wilbur and Orville. After two attempts to fly the machine, one of which resulted in a minor crash, Orville Wright took the Flyer out for the first powered, piloted flight in history. The brief adventure lasted for a 12-second, sustained flight on December 17, 1903. Ms. Earhart was able to pilot the flyer all over the gallery and the greater D.C. area, putting to shame the younger Wright.

5. And just as we had issue with the opening credits, we also find inaccuracies in the closing credits. Earlier in the film, we were introduced to a sailor from a snapshot of V-J Day in Times Square who finds the lost cell phone. As the credits role, we are reintroduced to the young sailor, Joey Motorola as he tinkers with the cell phone. There are several inaccuracies here as Motorola was founded in 1928 (as Galvin Manufacturing Company) in Chicago, Illinois where its sole product was a battery eliminator for radios. Founders Paul Galvin and Joseph Galvin devised the name Motorola when the company began manufacturing car radios in 1930; as the trademark name combines "motor" and "Victrola” (a household turntable enclosed in a cabinet)." Many of its products are radio-related (not necessarily cell phones) and in 1940 Motorola developed the first walkie talkie in the world. Victory in Japan Day occurred in 1945 and celebrations spread to Times Square in New York after Japan’s Emperor Hirohito surrendered, seventeen years after Motorola opened its doors.

Grade: C