Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again

Tonight, on Disney+, I saw “Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again,” which came out on the 9^th, the first animated sequel in the franchise. How is it compared to the past three movies?

Sixteen years ago, “Night at the Museum” was released like Rexy and subsequently gave a near-perfect trilogy filled to the max with unforgettable humor, museum disaster, and emotional storytelling. Matt Danner’s new animated film manages to copy the life-bringing magic of the tablet, while paying tribute to the aspects of the live-action films that made them very quotable and memorable experiences.

Set a few years after the end of “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” Larry Daley, voiced by Zachary Levi, has switched careers as a school teacher to become the director of a museum in Tokyo (which is a huge career path!) and the Museum of Natural History in New York is once again needs a night guard who is up to the task of fighting a lively group of re-animated museum exhibits. Naturally, that job falls on to 18-year-old Nick Daley, voiced by Joshua Bassett, who is hesitant to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Nick is actually hesitant about a lot of things, which is exactly why Larry thinks working the night shift at the museum is the perfect place for him to find his confidence and purpose. Because that’s exactly where Larry found change after his divorce. Nick’s situation is pretty usual teenage ordeals: he’s too nervous to ask the girls he likes out, and he’s too nervous to actually pursue his passion for music. Maggie Lovitt admitted in her review, “I guess all those midnight ragers at the museum rubbed off on him because he’s all about DJing and making music for people to dance to.”

Lovitt continued, “Nick’s subplots in tandem with the animation style really harken back to the golden age of the Disney Channel, where series like Kim Possible and American Dragon: Jake Long reigned supreme, which makes sense when you consider that Danner worked on beloved animated series from that same era of television. Similarly, Ray DeLaurentis, one of the films’ two scribes worked as a writer on American Dragon and still very clearly retains that unique essence that is threaded through into Kahmunrah Rises Again.” He’s joined on this film by Will Schifrin who brings live-action writing experience to the film, which helps make up some of the tonal styles of the original trilogy.

“Kahmunrah Rises Again” has Joan of Arc (Alice Isaaz) join the museum display cast of Teddy Roosevelt (Thomas Lennon), Attila the Hun (Alexander Salamat), Sacajawea (Kieran Sequoia), Laa (Levi), Octavius (Jack Whitehall), Jedediah (Steven Zahn), and Dexter (Dee Bradley Baker, famous for voicing Dad on “Cow and Chicken” and Numbuh 4/Wallabee Beetles on “Codename: Kids Next Door) as they join forces with the younger Mr. Daley to stop the world from ending when Kahmunrah (Joseph Kamal) resurrects himself – again – and try to, you guessed it, take over the world over the course of one night. The story is similar to “The Battle for the Smithsonian,” redoing some familiar elements, particularly with jumping through paintings, and the obviously Kahmunrah connection, but it never feels repetitive. Nick might be as geeky and can cause chaos like his father, but he does feel like his own character and a continuation of the that Jake Cherry created (and later Skyler Gisondo).

During their dangerous race against time, the Museum of Natural History’s lively exhibit pieces travel across the city to a kind of fictionalized version of the Metropolitan Museum’s Temple of Dendur, where they come in front with the tiny god of chaos, Seth, voiced by Akmal Saleh, who gives new and hilarious difficulties for the team. Lovitt noted, “Seth is a slightly more competent combination of the Hercules duo Pain and Panic, and “slightly” is doing a lot of lifting there.” Kahmunrah trying the whole time for world domination is an amazing journey into failure and silliness – and it gives the push Nick desperately needs to find himself.

Lovitt admitted, “The Night at the Museum franchise holds a very special place in my heart as someone who worked in the museum industry for a decade (and unfortunately, only a few museum exhibits came to life under my watch), and it’s a joy to see Disney reinvesting in the franchise and finding a new way to continue the adventure following the devastating loss of the live-action’s Teddy Roosevelt, Robin Williams. Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again rekindles the magic of the trilogy, while carefully blending nostalgia with a wide-open door into new world potential for these characters.” The beautiful part is that the film doesn’t change the nostalgic ending of the final film – which still is sad just thinking about it. With Nick Daley at the night desk, the museum lives on to entertain a new generation, while giving a safe place to retreat for fans unwilling to part ways with this franchise.

You never know, maybe one day the tablet will travel all the way to Tokyo and force Larry to revisit the trouble of working the night shift with a brand-new cast of characters coming to life. Plus, it would mean hearing more of Zachary Levi bringing his own twist to Ben Stiller’s Larry.

Out of the entire franchise, this has the highest rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but a below average rating from audiences. I will admit that during the final sequence, I did feel like I was going to nod off thinking it was taking too long, but it is still a good movie. Seeing how this has the shortest runtime in the franchise, check it out on Disney+. You will love it, especially if you loved the previous three films in the franchise. See it for yourself and enjoy.

Thank you for joining in on the review tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow when I continue “Disney Month 2022.”