Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (5/10): An emotional farewell to Robin Williams, a fun performance from Dan Stevens, but nothing more

“Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer!”

Nine years after Shawn Levy first directed Night at the Museum, he brings us the third and final installment of the franchise. Who would’ve thought that the film would be so successful at the box office to invest in two more sequels? Critics certainly didn’t because the film was never warmly received. It was an interesting premise and had a charming cast, but you’d think that the magic had run off by now. I wasn’t a fan of the franchise, but I still was entertained by some of the performances and the same can be said about this third film. It has its charming moments, but there are more misses than hits here with the gags. The formula is repeated once again, but one of the positive elements in Night at the Museum is the introduction of Dan Stevens (from The Guest) as Lancelot. He is the funniest character in the film, although he plays sort of the same character as Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. He thinks he is real and the gags center on that. It is recycled material, but Stevens is funny and makes it work. The other new addition is Rebel Wilson who plays a guard at a British museum, but her character doesn’t work. She plays her usual self and the jokes fall flat here. Apart from the lead performance from Ben Stiller and the addition of Lancelot, other positive things about this sequel are the returning characters: Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) who are perhaps my favorite of the franchise, and the cameos from Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs who return from the first film. Of course the most emotional and engaging scenes are the ones that feature Teddy Roosevelt. It’s the opportunity to see Robin Williams in his final feature film. Roosevelt isn’t among his best characters, but it was still emotional to see him one last time and get a chance to say good-bye to one of my favorite comedians of all time. 

The Night of the Museum franchise is family friendly and probably one of the films most families will get together to watch during the Holidays. It is entertaining and kids will enjoy it. There is nothing fresh about this sequel, but I don’t think parents will mind. Shawn Levy has made a career of directing these light comedies and his films are mostly average (my favorite of his is Real Steel and that is probably how they got Hugh Jackman to do a cameo for this sequel). There are funny moments, but this isn’t one of those comedies that is worth rewatching because the material is recycled. It is fun for a one time watch because of the cast involved, but I don’t think audiences will find it funny on a second viewing. There is not much more to add about this film, if you were a fan of the previous two films you will probably end up loving this, but if not it really is more of the same.

The Guest (7/10): Director Adam Wingard will always be welcomed on my screen

“You did the right thing. I don't blame you.”

The Guest had me sold at “From the director of You’re Next” because I absolutely loved that slasher film and vowed to watch any upcoming project from director Adam Wingard. Fortunately I didn’t have to wait more than a year, and The Guest came along. It may have not lived up to the hype, but it still was a fun stylized action thriller. Wingard knows how to blend genres effortlessly and despite having a familiar tone at times he delivers on the twists and switches gears on the audience. So despite borrowing elements from different movies, the way in which he blends them together allows for the film to feel fresh and unique. The Guest is heavily stylized and it plays out as sort of an 80’s retro film with stylized visuals and a fantastic electro score which helps build the tension. Even the font during the opening credits is reminiscent of those early 80’s films. The soundtrack along with Dan Stevens’s performance reminded me of Drive, another sort of retro 80’s movie. The Guest is an eerie and stylish film that builds tension so well during the first half of the movie that it makes it hard to shake off during the second half and leaves us expecting a little more. It is still a lot of fun and works as both an action thriller and a horror film accompanied with a small dose of ridiculous humor. The writer and director duo of Simon Barret and Adam Wingard are quietly turning into one of my favorite partnerships and I hope they continue to work together blending genres and stretching those familiar conventions into something unique and fresh.

Just as I couldn’t see You’re Next working without the superb performance from Sharni Vinson, there is no way that The Guest could’ve worked without Dan Stevens’s magnetic and cool performance. He is sensational and is a big reason why the buildup and the tension in the first half of the film worked so well. Stevens manages to be charming and menacing at the same time making it hard to guess what his real intentions are. The guy knows how to glare and smile really well. He has the chops to become a movie star. He plays Dave, a soldier who introduces himself to a family by claiming he was good friends with their deceased son. There is something suspicious about him, but he is so charming at the same time. The parents of the family who receives him are played by Sheila Kelley and Leland Orser, and their two children are played by Brendan Meyer and Maika Monroe. I didn’t really care for the parents in this film, but Meyer and Monroe deliver solid supporting roles. Monroe reminded me of a young Gwen Stefani and she is also someone I look forward to seeing in future films. Barrett knows how to write interesting main characters because he has made both Vinson and Stevens look great in their films. The Guest didn’t blow me away like You’re Next, but I still had a fun time with this blender of a film. The score alone is worth your time, and there was a moment halfway through the film where it is the actual score that announces the change of tone and structure that we are about to get.

My Review: A Walk Among the Tombstones (6/10)

"I do favors for people and in return they give me gifts."

If you go into this film without having seen the trailers you might expect another action vehicle from Liam Neeson, but as soon as this gritty film begins you know you aren't getting your average revenge flick. This is a much darker and gloomy film where the atmosphere and tone take a primary seat in this procedural detective tale. The story is secondary because what really is at the core of this film directed by Scott Frank (The Lookout) is the style. Frank succeeds at setting the eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere of this stylish thriller which will remind audiences of some of Fincher's earlier films. The dark atmosphere will turn off some audiences who were expecting another fun action film because the downbeat tone won't please mainstream audiences. At times the film is much more reminiscent to Neeson's work in The Grey than what he has done lately, but despite the strong performance, the main character of A Walk Among the Tombstones is the city which has been manipulated by Frank to appear gloomy and dark. This is what Frank manages to do best with his film, unfortunately he fails with the story and some of the subplots involved. The pacing begins to drag and the movie feels overlong because despite the somber atmosphere there is not much going on story wise when all the secondary characters and subplots begin to overpopulate the film. Neeson does what it takes to elevate the material when things begin to feel out of place and manages to make this film worth while and engaging. It's too bad Frank wasn't able to trim the subplots down a bit because he had a much better and promising film somewhere along the way. Tombstones does succeed in making the audience feel uncomfortable and it will make most feel a bit undecided as to how they feel about it long after it has ended. I find myself in-between, giving it a positive grade but not as entirely satisfied as I could have been after a promising opening sequence. 

I tend to enjoy Liam Neeson in all of his films so I really don't complain when I go see one of his mind numbing action flicks like Taken because I have a good time with it. In Tombstones he truly shows he has what it takes to undertake stronger and more complex roles. Neeson gives a solid performance once again and the film is worth checking out just for him. Despite being a very different film from his latest action films he does get a scene on the phone once again. No one knows how to threaten people over the phone like Neeson so of course producers couldn't miss the opportunity to have him do it. I don't get tired of it either. The rest of the characters in this film are forgettable considering it centers on Neeson's lonely character in the midst of a corrupted and dark New York City. Having the film set in 1999 along with the downbeat atmosphere constantly reminds the viewer of what is going to happen in the near future. We get a very ugly glimpse of humanity and that is where Frank succeeds because the film never tries to glamorize murders like so many modern films try to do. It doesn't even worry about explaining their motivations, it simply presents this dark atmosphere where there are no other interesting characters than Liam Neeson. The greatest failure of the film is the inclusion of a homeless kid who helps Neeson, but this subplot completely misfires and only makes the film feel more disconnected. Other than those few issues I had with Tombstones I think it is a strong adaptation of one of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder novels. It gets a lot of credit for being able to create such a dark atmosphere.