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Review of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Alan Silvestri)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you adored the heartwarming spirit and conservative
action of the original Night at the Museum score, for the sequel
is nearly an identical copy of that formula and its themes.
Avoid it... if you are basically satisfied with the first score and have no interest in owning a completely redundant companion piece.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian:
(Alan Silvestri) The production of sequels strictly for the purpose of
hitting a jackpot twice is an all too common occurrence, and the 2009
follow-up to the tremendously successful Night at the Museum is
an example why such endeavors are so tiresome for audiences that don't
check their brains at the door. The original 2006 film cleaned house
with unexpectedly strong grosses for 20th Century Fox, serving a noble
cause in spurring interest in family trips to museums for a short time.
The concept of a magic tablet that can make all the items of a museum
come to life is one that necessitates that a healthy portion of a $150
million budget be spent on special effects, and it is because of the
humor and technical marvels resulting from these creations that the
Night at the Museum franchise even exists. The sequel received
much of the same audience reception as the original; the studio was
careful not to alter the foundational premise of Night at the Museum:
Battle of the Smithsonian, aside from choosing a new location with
which to animate different exhibits. The result was a stale product, one
that is once again too shallow to merit much praise but at least serves
a basic purpose at the box office. The same critique applies to Alan
Silvestri's music for both films. The veteran composer's motion picture
writing has slowed considerably since 2003, with no truly memorable
score despite several solid efforts on nearly an annual basis since
then. His production in the two and a half years in between the two
Night at the Museum films has been especially sparse, and it is
because of this relative inactivity that the mundane nature of Night
at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in particular is something
of a disappointment. Silvestri obviously collected his paycheck on this
film without attempting to radically change his own approach to the
concept. His loyalty to franchises throughout his career is admirable,
even if the sequels are not. At its best, Silvestri's music for the
second Night at the Museum venture revisits some of the ballsy
full ensemble and choral tones of 2004's Van Helsing, arguably
the composer's last truly remarkable score, and, at its worst, extends
the pleasantly orchestral character of his many harmless comedy scores
of the 1990's.
While a certain amount of regurgitation is expected of a composer for this kind of assignment, it's actually quite frightening to hear just how similar the music for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is to its predecessor. You could intermingle the tracks from the two nearly identical albums without any breaks in continuity. The same collection of themes carries over to the sequel. The sufficiently noble but not overwhelming title theme doesn't become any more memorable the second time around. A secondary theme of wonderment that owes much to the composer's popular work for The Abyss is a more welcome returning factor. The lighthearted, contemporary theme for Ben Stiller's lead character continues to be easy on the ears. A rising bass region figure for the element of humorous mystery prevails again as well. All of these elements are offered in snapshot succession in the first three tracks of the album for Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Other fragments join a whimsical theme of romance for the new love interest (Amy Adams' Amelia Earhart) and the evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah, whose ancient Egyptian tones provide Silvestri with the opportunity to throw some lighter variations of The Mummy Returns into the equation as well. Like the first score, this one also uses several electronic accents to accentuate the coolness of certain scenes. Most of these rhythmic devices are harmlessly unintrusive, though the electric guitar in "On Your Toes" does fill the soundscape with a bit too much noise. The orchestral performances are strong, though the ensemble doesn't feature any one solo or emphasis of interest. The audience for this score on album will match that of the first; as mentioned before, the products are almost identical. The bursts of magnificence that will remind listeners of Van Helsing and The Mummy Returns are simply too few and far between to recommend the product to action enthusiasts. Conversely, Silvestri's heartwarming spirit of Americana with a twist of comedy is a little too generic (even in the closing, redemptive cues of "Goodbye" and "Museum Open Late") to recommend for that material either. The sensitive parts breeze quietly through the room like a spare gust of wind from Cast Away. All of it together is effective though disappointingly familiar. How you value straight redundancy will determine your interest level in this most predictable sequel work. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 49:51
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra
information about the score or film.
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