Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the third and final installment of the Night at the Museum franchise, takes viewers on one last incredible journey with the exhibits of the Natural History Museum.

The National History Museum is celebrating the restoration of its planetarium with a huge gala and Larry Daley, head of the night program at the museum, is put in charge of providing the entertainment for the event. While everything starts off smoothly, things quickly go downhill as the exhibits short-circuit, and start going crazy, attacking the guests. Larry discovers that Ahkmenrah’s tablet—which provides the magic that brings the exhibits to life—is rapidly corroding and that is what’s causing the exhibits to malfunction. The only person who knows how to fix the tablet is Ahkmenrah’s father (Ben Kingsley), but he is at the British Museum. So Larry takes his son and some of his museum friends across the pond to England before it’s too late, and the tablet completely runs out of magic.

All of our favorite characters from the first two films are back, including museum director Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), and exhibits Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Atilla the Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Ahkmenrah (Rami Malek), Dexter the monkey and tiny pals Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan). They are joined by some hilarious new characters. Rebel Wilson gives a delightful and charming performance as Tilly, the lonely, bumbling night guard at the British Museum. Dan Stevens shows off his athleticism and humor as the dim-witted, overly-confident Sir Lancelot. And Ben Stiller plays double-duty as Larry-lookalike neanderthal Laaa. The scenes with Larry and Laaa interacting are really fun and look amazing—they are so seamless that it’s hard to believe its the same actor playing both parts.

The third film also sees the return of Larry’s son Nick (Skyler Gisondo), who is now grown up and wants to take a year off to explore the world instead of going to college. Gisondo is a good addition to the cast—he delivers the dramatic father/son scenes, but also holds his own when paired off with the comedy greats.

“Letting Go” is one of the core themes of this film, which is also fitting as this is the final film of the franchise. This concept is explored both in Larry’s life—with his son and with the museum itself—as well as in the lives of Ahkmenrah’s father, Sir Lancelot and Laaa who all have their own journeys of discovery.

Secret of the Tomb is filled with all the humor and action and adventure we’ve come to expect in a Night at the Museum film. There is a lot of physical humor, fun dialogue and just hilarious situations. By allowing comedic greats like Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Ben Stiller, Rebel Wilson, Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson to ad-lib and improvise, the comedy just feels so natural. There is also a really fun surprise cameo from an actor playing himself that had me smiling the whole time he appeared on screen.

This film also really amps up the adventure with amazing special effects and incredible action sequences. The film builds off of the events and tropes of the previous two films, but then takes things to a whole new level. There are a pair of pretty spectacular action sequences, both of which get detailed behind-the-scenes treatments on the Blu-ray’s special features.

Speaking of the Blu-ray, the presentation itself is excellent—the picture is flawless, and the audio track makes perfect use of all of the channels to bring the viewer into the action. I noticed particularly great use of the surround channels during the gravity-defying M.C. Escher sequence. The way the sound is used really adds to the disoriented feeling of the scene.

The disc is loaded with over 90 minutes of great behind-the-scenes bonus material, deleted scenes, and other fun featurettes. There is also a feature-length audio commentary from the director, a digital copy of the film, and (for a limited time) a bonus digital copy of either of the first two films.

This third film in the franchise comes highly recommended. It provides the same elements that made the first two films so entertaining, as well as an origin story for the magical power of the tablet, and a satisfying conclusion to the overall journey of these characters.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:48)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

DVD:

• 480p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Surround Dolby Digital 2.0, French Surround Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 3/10/2018):

• Digital HD Copy redeemable via iTunes, Flixster (UltraViolet), Google Play or Vudu (UltraViolet)

Bonus Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 6/7/15):

• Digital HD Copy for redeemable via Flixster (UltraViolet), Google Play or Vudu (UltraViolet)
• Choose either Night at the Museum or Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
   
  Note: When Redeeming, it says the deadline is 6/2, not 6/7 as stated on the insert.

Extras (* Most features are only on the Blu-ray disc):

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (14:13)
  A collection of 7 deleted/extended scenes. Much of what was cut was not needed and explained away by lines in the final cut, but it’s nice to be able to see the scenes actually play out. Play All or select from “McPhee’s Solo Surprise”*, “Laaa Say ‘Stay'”, “Skipping School For London”*, “The New Chairwoman”*, “Jobless, Not Homeless”, “Sacajawea’s Motherly Advice”*, and “McPhee Fully Processes The Mayhem”*.
• Improv, Absurdity, and Cracking Up—The Comedy of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (8:05)
  A combination gag reel and compilation of alternate takes interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew talking about going off-script and ad-libbing lines, and working with Ben Stiller, Dan Stevens and Robin Williams. Includes interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy and actors Ben Stiller (“Larry Daley”), Ricky Gervais (“Dr. McPhee”), Owen Wilson (“Jedediah”), Steve Coogan (“Octavius”), Rebel Wilson (“Tilly”), Dan Stevens (“Sir Lancelot”), Patrick Gallagher (“Atilla the Hun”), Mizuo Peck (“Sacajawea”), Rami Malek (“Ahkmenrah”)
• The Theory of Relativity* (12:09)
  Director/Producer Shawn Levy gives a behind-the-scenes look from the set of the M.C. Escher “Relativity” sequence, taking viewers through the each step of the process of bringing this famous work of art to life. Also includes interviews with VFX Supervisors Erik Nash and Swen Gillberg, Executive Producer/1st Assistant Director Josh McLaglen, Editor Dean Zimmerman, 2nd Assistant Director Maria Battle-Campbell, and Stunt Coordinator/2nd Unit Director Brad Martin.
• Becoming Laaa* (7:24)
  The cast and creators talk about the process of filming the scenes with Larry and Laaa—which involved director/producer Shawn Levy stepping in for the second character. Includes lots of great behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with Shawn Levy, screenwriters/executive producers Michael Handelman and David Guion, and actors Ben Stiller and Rebel Wilson.
• A Day in the Afterlife* (16:26)
  What starts off as a day on set with Ahkmenrah, 4th King of the 4th King, quickly goes downhill after Ahkmenrah gets his old friend Craig a walk-on role, as Craig manages to annoy everyone on set. This fun tongue-in-cheek featurette also includes interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, and stars Ahkmenrah, Craig the Mummy (“Mummy”), Ben Stiller and Dan Stevens.
• The Home of History: Behind the Scenes of The British Museum (21:24)
  The British Museum staff members talk about the history of the institution, why they love to work there, and about the exhibits seen in the film. Also includes some behind-the-scenes footage of scenes being filmed there. Includes interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, stars Ben Stiller, Skyler Gisondo (“Nick Daley”) and Dan Stevens, and museum staff members David Bilson, Jonathan Williams, Neal Spencer, Naomi Speakman, Yu-Ping Luk, Ian Jenkins, Janet Larkin, Richard Blurton, Natasha McKinney, and John Taylor.
• Fight at the Museum* (6:22)
  A behind-the-scenes look at each step in the process of creating the big Xiangliu fight sequence—from the initial blocking and choreography to the pre-vis, filming and final effects. Includes interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, stunt coordinator Brad Martin, vfx supervisor Erik Nash, and star Dan Stevens.
• Creating the Visual Effects* (3:10)
  Montage of scenes from the planetarium reopening gala set to music. As the scenes play, each layer of effects to removed and added, showing just how much work went into creating the final visual.
• Audio Commentary by Director Shawn Levy* (1:37:48)
  Producer/Director Shawn Levy provides an entertaining and informative commentary throughout the film. He talks about the actors, special effects and editing choices he made while also providing a lot of fun behind-the-scenes tidbits.
• Gallery (2:05)
  Collection of production photos from the film. Use the remote to manually advance each photo, or let them auto-advance every 5 seconds. Select From “Pre-Vis” or “Photos” gallery.
• Theatrical Trailers (4:49)
  Play All or select between “Theatrical Trailer 1” and “Theatrical Trailer 2”.
• Sneak Peek (5:06)
  Play All or select between Peanuts Teaser, Penguins of Madagascar and Russell Madness.

Final Thoughts:

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a fun, exciting and, most-importantly, satisfying conclusion to the Night at the Museum franchise. This third installment amps up the humor, action and adventure, and brings back all of your favorite characters while also introducing some fun new characters. The Blu-ray has top-notch presentation and an excellent selection of bonus features. This release comes highly recommended and is a must own for any fan of the franchise.