It's finally upon us!

By: Andrew Caldwell

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May 20, 2009

If you're like me, you're waiting with bated breath for tomorrow, the 21st of May, when Ben Stiller will squirt his infallible comedy juices all over the movie screen in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

 

From Heavy Weights to Mystery Men to Starsky & Hutch, the man undeniably has a sort of Midas touch, and he likes to rub his sweaty fingers on as many films as he can. He is kind enough to give us his awe-inspiring performance in at least 3 movies a year, and as a result he's given us many of America's great film roles, like “Guitar Center Guy” in the outstanding “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny”!

 

It's always a significant moment in a movie series' life when the creators decide to do away with numbering in favor of a subtitle. Sometimes it's done as an attempt to regain some dignity after an obscene amount of numbered sequels, and sometimes it's done as a reboot of the franchise. Another reason (which I believe to be the case in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) is that the movie has moved beyond the original vision of the series to something more beautiful, profound and substantial.

 

One can almost see the “N”section of the video store populated by sequels, and direct-to-DVD spin-offs and, if we are truly blessed, remakes, all stemming from the original Night at the Museum. And each one will offer an experience just as profound and and inspired as the one before.

 

But this sea of sequels presents a very real and problematic scenario. How will future generations be able to chronologically organize the movies in a series that is sure to be incomprehensible when viewed out of order? The plot and characters are so deep and detailed that future viewers will almost unavoidably be denied the opportunity to watch them grow as they suffer through hardships and learn the true value of friendship.

 

The stories will be interwoven in such a way that to explain the story to newcomers would take more time than it would take for them to watch the movie, because that much thought was put into it. Also, they'll be unsure whether the hilarious jokes they're yucking it up over are the originals, or the hilarious callbacks and revamped references that will put the Austin Powers movies to shame.