Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

The exhibits at New York's Museum of Natural History once again come to life in this third installment in the action-adventure-comedy franchise. Following an Indiana Jones-type prologue set in Egypt in 1938, the story kicks off with a black-tie dinner celebrating the opening of the Hayden Planetarium. But what was supposed to be a dazzling animatronic show goes amok, as philanthropic guests flee from the rampaging T-Rex and other marauding relics. Night watchman Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) tells the museum curator (Ricky Gervais) that the problem stems from the erosion of a mystical ancient relic, the golden tablet of Ahkmenrah. So Daley and his teenage son (Skyler Gisondo) take off for London's British Museum, along with Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck), Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), pint-sized cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson), and Roman general Octavius (Steve Coogan), along with the capuchin monkey Dexter. They find the Pharaoh (Ben Kingsley) who designed the tablet to honor his son (Rami Malek), but not before Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) steals the show (the highlight here is a hilarious encounter with a surprise superstar playing King Arthur). Loosely based on Croatian author-illustrator Milan Trenc's 1993 children's book, director Shawn Levy's latest entry in the franchise is essentially a formulaic rehash set in a different location. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted/extended scenes (14 min.), an “Improv, Absurdity, and Cracking Up: The Comedy” featurette (8 min.), pre-visualization and photo galleries, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an audio commentary by director Shawn Levy, the production segments “The Home of History: Behind the Scenes of the British Museum” (22 min.), “A Day in the Afterlife” (17 min.), “The Theory of Relativity” (12 min.), “Becoming Laaa” (8 min.), “Flight at the Museum” (7 min.), and “Creating the Visual Effects” (3 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing franchise entry.] (S. Granger)