Ben Stiller’s first Night at the Museum (2006) was a fun and clever movie about a museum security guard who is surprised to find on his first night that all of the artifacts come to life when the sun goes down. When the sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, came out in 2009, it proved that all involved should have not have bothered. The film took away all of the likeable characters in favor to introduce new ones who were not as charming as the original set and featured a convoluted storyline. Many will be surprised to learn that the second sequel, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, rights all of the wrongs of the second film and finishes off the series nicely.

This time around, Director Shawn Levy and crew bring back everything that worked well with the first movie and improved upon it. There appears to be no reference to the second movie, including the character of Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), who played the love interest for Larry Daley, the security guard (Ben Stiller). It is as if she, or any of the other Smithsonian characters for that matter, never existed. Instead, the story takes place years later with Larry convincing Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais) that the characters come to life as a form of special effects. All the characters come together for a special gala at the museum to put on a show when some strange force causes the characters to malfunction (for lack of a better word). This leads Larry to travel to the British Museum in hopes of finding an answer. However, he is surprised to find out that he packed along a few stowaways as well. This makes his job tougher for him, but a lot more fun for us.

Fans of the original will be glad to know that some favorite characters like Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Octavius (Steve Coogan) and Jedediah (Owne Wilson) play much larger roles than they did in the second one, although Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck) still doesn’t have much to do. The movie also adds Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot, Ben Kingsley as Ahkmenrah’s (Rami Malek) father the pharaoh, Rebel Wilson as the night guard at the British Museum and a second role for Stiller as Laa the new Neanderthal who mistakes Larry as his father. Even the original guards played by Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs and Dick Van Dyke make a short appearance. Dyke, the old chimney sweep, proves that he can still dance after all these years too.

The film is bittersweet in some ways including the fact that Larry needs to let his son Nickey (Skyler Gisondo) plan his own life, and that we the audience have to say goodbye to these much-loved characters. This is also one of the last performances for Williams and Rooney. The film is dedicated to the two actors as well. With that said, the film is very funny and is appropriate for the whole family. If there is any bad language, I missed it and there isn’t a hint of inappropriate humor with the exception of a monkey relieving himself in two scenes which is gross and unnecessary. Finally, the film also shares a message of encouragement to be the best you can be. Two of the films best lines are:

Larry: “I have no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow.”

Theodore Roosevelt: “How exciting.”