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.

My Review: Short Term 12 (10/10)

"You need to get ready because it's so unbelievable it's going to seem fake, but I promise you it's not, Grace will vouch for me...It's a storytellers wet dream."

Every once in a while a surprising film like Short Term 12 comes around reminding me why I love cinema so much. This is only my second five star review from 2013 and this small indie absolutely hit all the right notes with me taking me through a wide range of emotions thanks to its perfect balanced mix of comedy and touching drama. I was drawn to these characters from the very opening scene and was completely engaged with the story. Having visited a foster care facility a couple times last year and spent some time with kids going through similar situations, this film really hit home and helped me empathize more with them. In a way I kind of felt like Nate, the new counselor in this film who didn't connect right away with the kids and there was not much he could do to help considering he had no idea where they were coming from. On the other hand, the two other counselors, Grace and Mason, really connected with the children because they came from similar backgrounds and understood how they were feeling. Short Term 12 writer and director, Destin Cretton, uses this film as a vehicle to let the viewer have a better understanding of the social situation these kids go through. I don't know if this would've worked so well if it weren't for the incredibly touching performances from the cast. Brie Larson is so great in this film, she hit all the right notes, and in some way she reminded me of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. She has that same potential and her career will definitely take off after this. She deserves an Oscar nomination because she's that good. Her co-lead, John Gallagher Jr. also delivers a terrific performance and if we haven't heard much about him it's because Larson steals most of the thunder here. Even the kids in this film were terrific and that's why I'm giving this film the highest possible grade because it does everything right.

Grace (Brie Larson) is one of the young counselors at Short Term 12, a foster care facility for at risk teenagers. Along with Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), with whom she's in a relationship, they look after these kids who have come from a troubled past. The film opens with Mason welcoming a new counselor named Nate (Rami Malek), and he shares a story with him about his first day which didn't go too great. Then they introduce some of the kids to him: there's Marcus (Keith Stanfield) who's about to turn 18 and therefor will be leaving the facility soon, Sammy (Alex Calloway) who's going through a deep psychological trauma, and Luis (Kevin Hernandez) who's easygoing but enjoys bullying Marcus. A few days later a new teenage girl named Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives at the foster care center who seems to be deeply scarred. Grace begins to connect with her and realizes they have come from a similar past. Grace and Mason are both excellent counselors, mostly because they have come from a troubled past themselves, and despite helping these kids they also have to deal with their own scars in life if they want their relationship to work. 

I loved the way that Cretton decided to open the film with Mason telling Nate a story, and then deciding to end it with another one. The structure of this film was just perfectly executed and I loved the balance it maintained. There were several different plots going on as each kid was going through different problems. The final scene in this film literally gave me goose bumps all over my body. Many people had an issue with it ending with such a positive note, but I thought it was perfect. Larson is a major reason why this film worked so well, her character Grace is just that: a graceful person who is doing her best to help these kids while at the same time trying to deal with her own demons. Dever and Stanfield also deliver powerful secondary performances and each one of them shares a memorable scene with one of their counselors as they try to express their feelings through different ways: Marcus does so by rapping and Jayden by reading a story. These two scenes are extremely powerful and emotional and they stand out in the film without feeling forceful or manipulative at all. This film just has so much heart and it's no surprise it has such a high rating (99% on Rottentomatoes) because it really is a vivid portrait that draws us in to these characters troubled lives in the pursuit and need of healing. Brie Larson's Grace has just become my favorite heroine of the year. That octopus story will stick with me forever, there was a lot of powerful stuff in this film.