Night at the Museum 2006

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The movie, despite some lavish special effects, feels perfunctory and generic. Kids may well enjoy it (the 7-year-old with me giggled all the way through); adults may squirm. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The writers are content to let the magical beings simply run around and crash into things. I got a Jumanji headache about 30 minutes in. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: As mindless spectacle, this is reasonably entertaining. Read more

Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Computer-generated things that go bump in the night can't cover for a thin story and less-than-inspired performances from Stiller and Williams. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Stiller's continued efforts to court the broadest possible audience has taken the edge off his comedy. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: It's never too late to enjoy a little holiday fantasy, such as spending a Night at the Museum. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Night at the Museum, in fact, is stuffed with smart performers doing graciously silly work, and all [director Shawn] Levy has to do is manage traffic. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: Cavemen and dinosaurs, cowboys and Roman soldiers, lions and zebras, all running amok, sounds like more fun than it is. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Though far less ambitious than Jurassic Park, Night at the Museum is also far less terrifying than Jumanji. It is happy where it is, and the audience I saw it with seemed to appreciate that. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Night at the Museum is not just a wild runaround of computer-generated creatures. Well, OK, that's mostly what it is. Still, there is something of a plot. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: What a dull, nice movie, wrenched from a wild premise and battered into docility. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: The special effects rule, yet they don't overpower simple, character-driven slapstick. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: The special effects are a blast. The T-Rex skeleton looks authentic as it clatters down the hallway after a terrified Larry. But even better is the remarkable, star-studded ensemble. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Night at the Museum, based on a kids' book by Milan Trenc, is so wonderfully energetic it doesn't leave much time for questions. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: A pea-brained fantasy-comedy with a riot of kid-pleasing special effects. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Really young kids may like the noise and chaos of the movie, but the real museum on Central Park West has its own 'A Night at the Museum' program that sounds a lot better. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Kids, supposedly too bored to go to such museums anymore (one of the film's messages, along with 'learn your history') should find this a Night to remember. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It might be fair to give Ben Stiller an 'A' for effort, but to call what he does in this movie "acting" is a misnomer. He does a lot of running around, occasionally falling down or bumping into things. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Like the institution it portrays, Night at the Museum comes alive after dark. It's a perfect movie to take the kids to. Who knows, it might even inspire them to want to visit an actual museum. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: A film that veers, often without much direction, between a family-friendly comic romp and an attempt to touch our souls with heartfelt emotion. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Fun for the whole family? Probably not, but certainly for those members who are only permitted to hang out when the lawyers say it's okay. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: ... an aimless and riotous mess. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: If only family comedies would evolve and not assume that a good concept, convincing special effects and a strong cast automatically add up to fun. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Rarely has so much production value yielded so little in terms of audience engagement. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: The first half-hour's too slow; the last half-hour's too manic, as if to compensate. But at least it entertains. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It's a fun ride, and the big payoff -- that history turns out to be way cooler than its reputation suggests -- is even more gratifying. Read more