Night at the Museum 3 ends the trilogy with a laugh and a tear

The weather is cold and perfect for snuggling up to a good book or watching a fun flick with the family!  Here's one of my movie reviews from my blog Movie Review Maven!

Movie:  Night at the Museum 3

PG, 1 hour 30 minutes

Grade: B

In a Nutshell:  If you’re a fan of this edutainment franchise, you’ll enjoy seeing some of your favorite characters again, as well as meeting a few new ones, including a Neanderthal that looks like Larry Daley (Ben Stiller)  and Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey Season 1-3 ).  We get to visit the famous British Museum while slapsticking our way through calculated goofy moments and funny lines.

The door is always open for another sequel, but it also feels like the dust may settle on this one as an appropriate and fond farewell.  There are a few touching moments and enough humorous ones to keep the entire family entertained.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Be careful or the magic might die.  (Is that a lesson that the new writers learned while writing this?)

   *  Family is who you surround yourself with.

   *  Enjoy every moment of life.

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Things I liked:

·         It was wonderful seeing Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt again.  We miss you.  Before the credits rolled at the end, the screen displayed the words “In loving memory of Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams.  Magic never dies.”  Sweet.

·         I also loved seeing Dick Van Dyke.  He’s still got moves!

·         Hugh Jackman makes a cameo performance, playing himself.  Ben Stiller's character runs past him and says “I just want to say, you’re the whole package.”

·         The star constellation performance was super cool.   "Of course they're special effects!  How could they not be special effects?"   (Dr. McPhee)

·         Capuchin on silks.  Ha ha

·         I thought the research librarian was hilarious.   “Oo la la.”

·         Great aerial views of London.  I’m going there next June with the fam!

·         Ricky Gervais does a great job playing the quirky Dr. McPhee.  The comedic timing during his awkward moments scene with Larry was fantastic.

·         Nick Daley is almost all grown up now. Skyler Gisondo has some great natural talent.  You might have seen him in The Amazing Spider-Man ; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , as well asHalloween .  I'd like to see more of him.

  .    Rebel Wilson as Tilly the British Museum security guard was hilarious and should have been used more.

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Things I didn’t like:

·         Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) don’t have the same magical spark they did in the first installment of this trilogy, but they were still cute.

      I would have liked to see more exhibits and characters in the British museum come to life.  There were so many more ways the movie could have poked fun at our beloved Britts.

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Funny lines:

·         “Who would have ever thought…I’m wax and she’s polyurethane, but it works.” – Teddy Roosevelt

·         “Summon the apparatus!” – Octavius

·         “I don’t know what’s come over me, but I like it.” – Jedediah

·         “You’ll rue the day you mocked us with your hypnotic blue eyes.” – Octavius

·         “Keep the scrunchies.”  - Tilly

·         “You can’t catch light.  It’s as evasive as human happiness.”  - Jedediah as he watches YouTube videos of kittens chase a flashlight.

·         “My boyfriend says he doesn’t like the way I do my hair.  He says it looks like a golden poo.” – Tilly

·         “With their size, they’ll bake like tiny, little scarabs in the Egyptian desert.  Too dark?” –  Rami Malek

Interesting things:

·         The investor guy with glasses in the beginning of the movie looked like the bad guy in Indiana Jones' Raiders of the Lost Ark. He says “I can’t help but feeling we’re making a terrible mistake.”   The Indiana Jones character in this movie then says “We’re not making a mistake; we’re making history.”

·         You don’t need to stay until the end of the credits.  There are a few clips of the crew dancing, but nothing else shows once the credits begin rolling.

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Tips for Parents:

·         Octavius makes several odd homosexual innuendos about Sir Lancelot.

In case you missed the first 2 installments, check them out here for cheap!