MANILA, Philippines?If you thought ?Night at the Museum? was an extravaganza of gags and special effects, brace yourself for the sheer overload that is ?Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.? You?ll see a lot of familiar faces here?Larry the night watchman (Ben Stiller), a waxy Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), tiny Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan), the naughty capuchin?and they?re joined by a veritable cast of thousands in a setting of equally impressive size: The Smithsonian, the biggest museum on earth.

In this sequel to the 2006 sci-fi comedy caper, Larry is no longer a museum security guard. Instead, he?s the CEO of a successful company selling revolutionary household items (like the glow-in-the-dark flashlight). He?s rich, but he doesn?t seem too happy?and when he drops by for a visit to the Museum of National History, he finds most of his old friends in packing crates, awaiting shipment to the Federal Archives in Washington, DC, located beneath the Smithsonian museum complex.

It?s a sad day for Larry and his friends, but before anyone can get too broken up, the displays get shipped to DC and Jedediah gives Larry a call. The capuchin has nicked the ancient Egyptian tablet that makes the whole coming-to-life trick possible?and, now, they, along with the rest of the Smithsonian, are alive.

Residents

Unfortunately for Larry?s old pals, one of the Smithsonian?s residents is the evil, Egyptian pharaoh, the lisping Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who wants to get his hands on the tablet in order to conquer the world. Helping him accomplish this are Napoleon (Alain Chabat), Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest) and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal).

Larry flies to the rescue, and his supporters include Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), General Custer (Bill Hader), and the Lincoln Memorial?s gigantic Abraham Lincoln (voiced by Azaria). You?ll also encounter flying and singing stone cherubs, the Tuskegee airmen, a bunch of Einsteins and an enormous squid?this is the Smithsonian we?re talking about, after all, and it?s not just one museum, it?s 19!

As you can imagine, this can get overwhelming. The director and screenwriters?Shawn Levy, Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, respectively?try to stuff so many elements together that they end up losing track of their story.

Exception

As for the special effects, they?re impressive, but even they begin to wear thin halfway through the movie?with the exception of a particularly charming series of scenes in the art galleries, where Degas? dancer actually starts to dance and Jeff Koons? ?Balloon Dog Red? floats across the floor to its own balloon-y beat.

While the first film had the same tendency toward bloat, the comedy sequel is so distended you can feel it dragging at times. All the effective gags and funny exchanges seem to have equivalent downers, resulting in a movie that?s only intermittently enjoyable.

Still, there are enough spectacles in ?Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian? to keep the kids happy?and you can add to your own amusement by spotting star cameos in the crowded cast!