Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has moved on to bigger and better things since we last saw him as a security guard at the American Museum of Natural History—he's a multi-millionaire selling his inventions via infomercials. He returns to the museum to visit the old gang and finds out all of the exhibits are being shipped to the Smithsonian for storage, so he decides to spend one final night with the exhibits to say farewell to his friends. As morning approaches, he discovers the mysterious tablet that brings the exhibits to life won't be making the journey, although the mischievous chip Dexter decides differently. Let the fun begin!

My family really enjoyed the first film but didn't have high expectations for the sequel. It turns out our reservations were warranted. While not a bad film, it's not very original or exiting. The villain is more humorous than frightening and the inclusion of Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart would have been a decent touch if her character had any dimension.

Although the script leave a lot to be desired, the AVC encode is fabulous with a strong color palette of vivid hues, revealing textures, and deep blacks. The only negative is some heightened contrast in some exterior scenes, but most of the movie is shot indoors so this minor flaw is rarely witnessed. Detail is breathtaking, especially on close-ups where you can see the weaves in fabric and every facial pore.

With a museum full of exhibits coming to life, I thought the audio track would be full of discrete effects flying from every direction. Sadly, that isn't the case. While generally solid, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is very front heavy, especially during the first half of the film, and when hell starts to break loose in the Smithsonian, the rear channels rarely come to life. Dialog is mostly intelligible throughout the film and I enjoyed Alan Silvestir's score, but the uninspiring sound design is a big disappointment.

Extra's include two commentary tracks, one with director Shawn Levy and the second with writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Trivia junkies will enjoy the "Scavenger Hunt Mode," where you use the colored buttons on your remote to identify objects on the screen (two difficulty levels). Other supplements include behind-the-scenes featurettes, an informative feature taking viewers into the research lab at the American Museum showing how the artifacts are preserved, deleted scenes, gag reel, and some trailers.

If you liked the previous Museum film, you'll most likely enjoy the sequel, but don't expect any new ground to be covered—it's much of the same thing. The video presentation is breathtaking but the sound design left a little to be desired. Give it a rent, especially if you have kids.

Release Date: December 1, 2009
Studio: Fox

Movie: 6/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics