Everything you need to know about ‘Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again’

• Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again is a new animated short by Matt Daner.
• In Kahmunrah Rises Again, Joan of Arc teams up with the younger Mr. Daley to stop the end of the world.
• The final film’s heartbreaking ending, which still makes me cry just thinking about it, is preserved.

Night at the Museum first entered our lives sixteen years ago, much like Rexy, and went on to produce a near-perfect trilogy that was bursting at the seams with endearing humour, museum mayhem, and moving storytelling.

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again, a new animated short by Matt Daner, succeeds in capturing the life-giving power of the tablet while paying tribute to the elements of the live-action movies that made them such quotable and unforgettable experiences.

A few years after the events of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Larry Daley (voiced by the incomparable Zachary Levi) has given up his job as a teacher to become the director of a museum in Tokyo. The Museum of Natural History in New York is once again in need of a night guard who is capable of managing a lively group of reanimated museum exhibits. Naturally, that responsibility falls on 18-year-old Nick Daley (Joshua Bassett), who is hesitant to take after his father.

Since Nick is truly hesitant about a number of things, Larry believes that working the night shift at the museum will help him develop his confidence and sense of direction. After all, it was there that Larry settled into a routine following his divorce. Nick’s predicament is fairly typical of teenage life: he is too shy to approach the lady he likes and is too shy to pursue his passion for music. He seems to be all about DJing and creating music for people to dance to, so I guess all those late-night parties at the museum had an impact on him.

Nick’s subplots and animation design strongly evoke the heyday of the Disney Channel, when shows like American Dragon: Jake Long and Kim Possible were king, which makes sense given that Daner also created the adored animated programme The Replacements. In a similar vein, American Dragon writer Ray DeLaurentis, one of the films’ two writers, definitely carries over that particular essence into Kahmunrah Rises Again. Will Schifrin, who has expertise writing for live-action television, collaborates with him on this project and contributes to evoking some of the tonal nuances of the original trilogy.

In Kahmunrah Rises Again, Joan of Arc (Alice Isaaz) teams up with the younger Mr. Daley to work together to stop the end of the world when Kahmunrah (Joseph Kamal) rises from the dead—again—and wreaks complete havoc over the course of one night. Other museum display cast members include Teddy Roosevelt (Thomas Lennon), Attila the Hun ( The rhythms are reminiscent of The Battle for the Smithsonian and tread some old ground, especially with the leaping among the paintings and the clear connection to Kahmunrah, yet it never gets monotonous. Nick might share his father’s tendency for chaos and dorkiness, but he still feels like his own character and carries on Skyler Gisondo’s legacy.

The vibrant exhibit pieces from the Museum of Natural History travel across the city to a loosely fictionalised recreation of the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum, where they come face to face with the diminutive god of chaos, Seth (Akmal Saleh), who causes the group new and hilarious trouble in their dangerous race against time. Seth is a somewhat more capable blend of Pain and Panic, the Hercules pair, and the word “slightly” does a lot of heavy lifting there. A lovely voyage into failure and foolishness, Kahmunrah’s entire quest to rule the world gives Nick the push he so sorely needs to discover who he is.

I spent ten years working in the museum sector, and the Night at the Museum franchise holds a very special place in my heart. It’s wonderful to see Disney reinvesting in the series and finding a fresh approach to the adventure in the wake of the tragic passing of Robin Williams, who played Teddy Roosevelt in the live-action version. Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again revives the trilogy’s allure while deftly fusing nostalgia with the possibility of these characters entering a brand-new universe. The final film’s heartbreaking ending, which still makes me cry just thinking about it, is preserved in this version of the story, which is a great touch. With Nick Daley on the night shift, the museum continues to fascinate younger audiences while providing a haven for devoted followers of the series.

The future? Maybe the tablet will travel to Tokyo one day, forcing Larry to relive the craziness of working the night shift with a fresh cast of individuals. Additionally, it would mean getting to hear more of Zachary Levi giving Larry, played by Ben Stiller, his unique spin.

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