THE exhibits at the famous Smithsonian in Washington are about to come to life in star-studded comedy sequel, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 (PG). The guides have gone home, the lights are out, the school children are tucked up in their beds and former night guard

THE exhibits at the famous Smithsonian in Washington are about to come to life in star-studded comedy sequel, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2 (PG).

The guides have gone home, the lights are out, the school children are tucked up in their beds and former night guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is lured to his biggest, most imagination-boggling adventure yet.

After the first film, Larry has left behind the low-paying world of guarding museums to become a sought-after inventor.

He seems to have it all - but something is missing in his life, something that draws him back to his old haunt, the Museum of Natural History, where he once had the magical night of a lifetime.

There, he makes an unsettling discovery. His favourite exhibits, indeed some of his truest friends, have been deemed out-of-date. Packed into crates, they await shipment to the vast archives of the Smithsonian.

Their fate is unknown - that is, until Larry receives a distress call from the miniature cowboy Jedediah (Owen Wilson), who informs him of an impending disaster. It seems the newcomers have woken the Egyptian ruler, Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria), who's in a particularly nasty mood after 3,000 years of slumber. Now, he and a trio of history's most heinous henchmen - Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte and Al Capone - are plotting to take over the museum (and then the world).

Speeding to the nation's capital, Larry is clearly in over his head. But he's got some impressive new friends - from the brilliant Albert Einstein to honest Abe Lincoln to the one exhibit who takes his breath way - the irrepressible Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams), who spurs Larry to rediscover his missing his sense of fun and adventure.

Along with his old buddies - including Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Octavius (Steve Coogan), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Attila The Hun (Patrick Gallagher) and the Neanderthals - Larry will stop at nothing to restore order to The Smithsonian before the stroke of dawn.

Stiller says: "The first movie was kind of lonely because it was Larry against the exhibits. But this time Larry has someone to run around the Smithsonian with and that made it so much more fun."

The only thing Stiller wasn't looking forward to was a reunion with the Capuchin monkeys who proved so pesky - and endangered his nose - on the first film.

"I will say that Crystal is a true professional but she does not know how to 'fake' a punch.