Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again review: Zachary Levi and Joshua Bassett's animated film is a good watch, but we miss Ben Stiller

3/5

Story:

The Maat Danner-directed film marks the fourth instalment of the Night at the Museum franchise while at the same time being the sequel to Secret of the Tomb. Meanwhile, it is also the first animated part of this film series, starring Joshua Bassett as Nick Daley and also Zachary Levi, who replaces Ben Stiller as Larry Daley.

Review:

After leaving his self-made business, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) came back to be THE night guard of the American Museum of Natural History in Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb. Larry, with the help of his museum friends (the statues that used to come alive at night), defeated Kahmunrah, who planned to raise his pupils from the dead to rule the world.

The latest film begins by revealing that Larry Daley (now played by Zachary Levi) gets transferred to the Museum of Japan. He requests that his museum friends, who come alive from their statues at night, accept someone new as their night guard, while they all refuse and propose to bring his son, Nick Daley (Joshua Bassett), as the new night guard.

After many requests, college-going Nick, who is completely bagged with low self-esteem, accepts his father's offer. He reaches the museum to meet his old friends with the least expectation of fun; however, it becomes the night of his life.

The Kahmunrah statue, which recently got transferred to the museum again, awakens at night and comes out of the basement, which was unfortunately not locked. He steals the main tablet, which is the main key to helping him raise an army, and starts his dangerous game. However, this makes Nick unwillingly go on an adventure with his friends and defeat the evil prince of Egypt's king.

The story is based on the novel of the same name by Milan Trenc, while the screenplay was done by Ray DeLaurentis and William Schifrin. The base plot of the film is almost identical to The Secret of the Tomb; however, due to being an animated movie, it gets a few eye-catching and extraordinary visuals that are fun and mesmerising to watch.

Levi doesn't have a major chunk in the film, as it is more focused on Larry Daley's son Nick Daley, while Bassett's perfect dialogue delivery makes his part valuable. Meanwhile, the latest franchise surely has some laugh-worthy punches and hilarious dialogues that keep us entertained throughout the 1 hour and 17 minutes of the film.

Verdict:

Even though the latest animated part is a good watch, we still miss Stiller and his original style as Larry Daley, as well as actors like Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, and the legendary Robin Williams.

However, all being said, Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again still ought to be watched once. Stream the comedy-drama movie on Disney+ Hotstar.