No longer a night guard at the Museum of Natural History, Larry (Ben Stiller) has seen his inventions take off, creating a hugely profitable company.

But when he returns to the museum, he finds all his friends are being shipped off to permanent storage at the Smithsonian museum in Washington.

Click here for Night at the Museum 2 trailer.

And when the enchanted Egyptian tablet that brings exhibits to life is stolen, it doesn't take long for a new villain at the Smithsonian museum to come back to life with an evil plan for world domination.

In this sequel Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) becomes Larry's new companion as he tries to stop the hilarious Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) from bringing his army back to life.

Younger viewers will revell in wondering which character will come alive next, as this thrilling follow-up goes over and above the first offering - even Stiller says "That's new" when portraits come alive on the walls.

This may not have the charm the first film did, and was always going to have a tough job recreating the original magic, but it does really well to introduce a whole host of new characters that are as likeable and amusing as the originals.

It's a shame the old favourites like cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) were not featured more, but at the same time Hank Azaria's Kahmunrah offered more than his fair share of laughs, and was easily the funniest character in the film.

And of course there's the usual amount of monkey slapping thrown in for good measure.

Night at the Museum 2 couldn't capture the excitement of its predecessor, but was still a thoroughly enjoyable, light-hearted and amusing film that can easily help you wile away an afternoon.


Click here for Night at the Museum 2 showtimes at Odeon Silverlink.