‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’ On Disney+ Hotstar Movie Review: A Pale Shadow Of The Ben Stiller Franchise

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’: Cast & Crew

Director: Matt Danner

Cast: Joshua Bassett, Jamie Demetriou, Alice Isaaz, Gillian Jacobs, Joseph Kamal, Thomas Lennon, Zachary Levi, Alexander Salamat, Kieran Sequoia, Jack Whitehall, Bowen Yang, Steve Zahn

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar

Duration: 1 Hour 17 minutes

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’: Story

Nick Daley is following in his father's footsteps as the night watchman at the American Museum of Natural History, so he knows what happens when the sun goes down. But when Kahmunrah escapes, it is up to Nick Daley to save the museum once and for all. Will he be able to save the museum just like his father had done thrice before? Or will he fail in his pursuits and his father will have to bail him out? Will the inmates of the museum be good to the new night guard? Or will they be abjectly mean and hateful towards Nick Daley? Well, for all that you’ll have to watch the film.

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’: Performances

The previous ‘Night At The Museum’ movies had very distinct representations of all the characters, which was led by Ben Stiller as the night guard. However, this time over, it seems more like a coming-of-age story of a little boy. That funny and unpredictable zest that Ben Stiller brought along in the previous 3 films was badly missing in this.

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects

Hats off to Matt Danner for having the guts to once again pick up the same concept and churn out the fourth movie in the franchise. It was just the first part of the franchise that you’re intrigued by the plot of the museum coming to life every night. But in the subsequent films, it was the acting and the storyline that created an impact. Here, Matt Danner had a good plot twist with the son taking over from the father as the night watchman, but sadly, the film has been turned more into a coming-of-age drama rather than a funny slapstick comedy.

The writing by Ray DeLaurentis and William Schifrin is the biggest soft spot of the film. The film picks up from where the previous part left off and gives a slight spin to it. Instead of the night watchman in the previous 3 parts, the role has now been passed on to his son. Till here, it was good as a plot, but the way the rest of the script has been written, it is simply trying too hard to live up to the legacy of the previous films. The jokes aren’t as funny, the slapstick humour isn’t that laughable and above all, the voicing of the characters doesn’t look that genuine and feels more like a dubbed version of a foreign language film.

The animation is decent. Getting the era right must have been a big task, and the makers managed to get those different eras pretty accurately.

The editing by Luc Perrault, however, is crisp. And he has managed to keep the runtime of the film to less than one and a half hours, which is a steal deal for a storyline like this.

Nothing stands out in John Paesano’s music.

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’: Can Kids Watch It?

Yes

Outlook’s Verdict

‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’ is a pale shadow of what the franchise used to be with Ben Stiller leading from the front. Right from the beginning, the franchise was a fantasy fiction for kids, but it ended up being loved by the adults as well for its superb storylines and performance by the lead actors. Sadly, with it becoming an animated movie, it has lost its fun element, and it can, at best, be loved by kids. The adults would definitely feel massively bored watching this 4th part of the franchise. My suggestion – get it back to a live-action format from the next part – whether or not you wish to get back Ben Stiller is a different question. For now, ‘Night At The Museum - Kahmunrah Rises Again’ is Totally Avoidable. I am going with 1 star.