I won’t lie. I had hopes for this movie. I maybe even rooted for it a little. I should’ve known better. Although Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian starts off with some entertaining potential, the rest of the film lacks much promise. What should be a goofy, witty and just plain fun sequel turns into a repetitive, predictable (and dare I say slightly painful?) experience.

In the follow up to 2006’s Night at the Museum, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) has moved on from night guard of the Museum of Natural History to CEO of an inventing corporation, responsible for gadgets which include a glow-in-the-dark flashlight. Paying a little tribute to his past, Larry returns to the museum only to discover that it is being closed for renovations, and the rambunctious group of artifacts that come to life only after hours, is being transferred to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. for safekeeping. Seems simple enough, but of course, the mischievous capuchin Dexter has to pull an outrageous scheme, taking the ancient Egyptian tablet that allows them all to come to life to the capital city with them, and thus provoking chaos between millions upon millions of artifacts. Larry, with the help of newcomers Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), General Custer (Bill Hader), as well as the original museum crew, must defeat the crazed Egyptian pharaoh Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who is determined to get his hands on the tablet in order to unleash the forces of the underworld.

Will Larry succeed before sunrise? Does he stand a chance against the likes of Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone, and Napoleon? Will he renounce CEO glory and return to his simple museum gig, following Teddy Roosevelt’s (Robin Williams) advice about finding the key to happiness by doing what he loves? You take a guess.

So yeah, the plot is that predictable. But sometimes you can make up for predictability with witty dialogue and a great cast, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, this movie can’t really boast either. I will say that the return of the entire cast is one of the film’s few redeeming qualities, but even the actors, who normally do awesome work, can’t really make up for their poorly written characters. Amy Adams strangely isn't fun to watch, Wilson and Hader become bad stereotypes, and Jonah Hill is restrained to five minutes of screen time.

The slapstick humor just aren’t funny this time around, mainly because the writing takes no risks. It almost felt as though director Shawn Levy was trying to see how many talking Smithsonian artifacts he could squeeze in just under two hours. Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader somehow manage to weasel their way in. And then there’s the Jonas Brother. Oh, yes, the Jonas Brothers. They voice flying cupid statues that decorate one of the museum fountains. Oh, and did I mention they were singing flying cupid statues?

Of course, sequels are never as good as their predecessors, and Night at the Museum is certainly no masterpiece, but it does have a special charm about it that Battle of the Smithsonian just lacks. I hate to be completely negative, after all, there were a few genuine laugh out loud moments, although they were scarce, and 10 year olds will definitely enjoy it, but, simply stated, it’s overdone. The newness and excitement that may have been sparked with the original flick has fizzled, and Battle of the Smithsonian is probably one of the summer films you can hold off on, at least until DVD.