Night at the Museum Movies Ranked
The Night at the Museum movies have grossed $1.3 billion at the box office spanning four movies, three theatrically released movies plus one streaming movie. So today I thought I would rank all four of the Night at the Museum movies. Let’s get started!
4. Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again: A Disney+ original film that’s sort of a continuation of the live action trilogy, but not really. This movie was just a lame addition to the franchise that I don’t think really worked. There were rumors that this was supposed to be a pilot for a Night at the Museum tv show. When you watch the film, you can see how this could easily have been a pilot episode, except it’s stretched out to an 80 minute run time. Maybe this could have worked at a pilot episode, shorten it down into 20 minutes or stretch it over a few episodes. But I don’t think there’s 80 minutes worth of plot here. But I think what really hurts this movie is that none of the original cast members returned for this movie. I was researching why they didn’t return for the film, there’s no reason why they didn’t, they just didn’t. The characters in that original trilogy were so fun and memorable. Part of that was because of the actors playing them. They got very fun and charming actors like Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and more to play the characters. Zachary Levi is in here, he’s fun but nobody else has that spark that the original actors had. I think this movie had potential to be good, perhaps in a live action format with the original cast returning, it could have worked. But as is, it’s not a great movie and EASILY the weakest of the bunch.
3. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: Of these films, this is the one that I’ve probably watched the most. I think it’s the film that has the most iconic and memorable sequences of the franchise. From beginning to end, there’s so many quotable lines and memorable sequences. It tells a bigger story with adding in new characters, obviously we’re going to Washington D.C. and exploring the Smithsonians. Hank Azaria’s villain is a lot of fun, he gets a lot of great lines in here. Some of his banter with Ben Stiller is hilarious, I love the scene where he meets Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch. The magic of the first film is still present in this film, it’s a very fun adventure to go on. It delivers the experience you want from a Night of the Museum film, while telling a different story. It functions as a chase movie where Ben Stiller and Amy Adams are on a quest to do a thing and they’re escaping Hank Azaria’s villain all along the way. I think what holds the movie back, it does move a bit too quickly. I didn’t feel like there were enough character moments here, the emotional core of some of the other films of the franchise isn’t really in this movie. Several of the characters of the first film are side lined and book end the film, some of the new characters aren’t as interesting. But in general, a solid sequel that’s fun and funny from beginning to end.
2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb: If one of my issues with the second film was that they sidelined several characters from the original. I like that with this movie they decided to bring everybody back because it was the third and final film. They found a story that was able to bring all of them back together, you understand why everybody is there. Of the films of the franchise this is the one with the most focused plot. From the very beginning we know what Ben Stiller and friends are trying to do and they go off to London to finish their mission. There’s just a certain heartfelt vibe with this film, since it is the third film they closed things out, I thought in a way that made sense for this trilogy. Even some of the final lines between Ben Stiller and Robin Williams are great and have a certain level of emotional weight. Especially when you know this was Williams’ last movie before he passed away. Like I keep on saying, there’s a lot of fun sequences in here. I love Hugh Jackman’s cameo in here, that’s the stand out sequence for me. The fact they got Hugh Jackman to be in this movie and play this fictional version of himself is great, the Wolverine bit is hilarious. The Escher drawing chase sequence is very memorable, it’s a cool and different sequence to do for this franchise. It’s not as fresh as some of the other films and I feel like it has one to many endings. But overall, this is a solid and fun final chapter for this trilogy.
1. Night at the Museum (2006): For me, the original film is still the best of the bunch. This is a movie that I’ve seen on loop for years, I’ve watched it several times with my grandparents over the years. I’ve always found this to be a very fun and enjoyable film. It takes this fun concept of exhibits in a museum coming alive at night while the night guard is on the clock and all of the fun that comes along with that. The movie is filled with iconic and memorable moments, of course the first night where we experience for the first time is great but there’s these little moments that are all fun. The humor is also very good, it functions as a fish out of water comedy for both Ben Stiller’s character and the museum exhibits as both sides feel out of touch with the other one. You also have a fun cast here. Ben Stiller is great in the lead role, he’s a fun actor that can play fun characters. And his energy and vibe fits perfectly with the Night at the Museum franchise. This also was the film debut of Rami Malek, this is the role I most associate him with. Our three villains with Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs are a lot of fun. All around, I think fun is a great way to describe this movie. It’s a fun family adventure for everybody to enjoy.
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