What it’s about?: With so many flicks in the dance genre, from classics like Flashdance and Fame to more recent entries such as Step Up, Save the Last Dance and Stomp the Yard, as well as numerous popular TV dance competitions, the Wayans Brothers are right in thinking there’s material ripe for riffing here. So in Dance Flick, we get a young street dancer, Thomas Uncles (get it?) who meets a gorgeous white chick named Megan White (get it?), and they team up for the ultimate in dance-offs as they become part of a “crew” that battles the baddies to take the title and repay Thomas’ debt to Sugar Bear, an enormous loan shark and drug lord.

Who’s in it?: In the lead roles of Thomas and Megan, Damon Wayans Jr. and Shoshana Bush are naturals in the comedy department – if not exactly convincing as dance champs. Most of Dance Flick’s laughs come courtesy of the supporting players, particularly Essence Atkins as Megan’s confidante and Amy Sedaris (TV’s “Strangers With Candy”) as a teacher who likes to verbally torment her students while wearing extremely tight and revealing pants. The rest of the film is swarming with stereotypes, including Brennan Hillard doing a gay take-off on Zac Efron’s High School Musical character (including a swishy production number to the tune of Fame); Chelsea Makela as the compact and chubby Tracy Transfat (lifted directly from Hairspray’s energetic teenage lead) and Affion Crockett as A-Con, a guy who aspires to be a criminal when he’s not getting all jiggy. Then, of course, there is the bitchy adversary for Megan, played to the hilt by Christina Murphy. Best of all is the imposing Sugar Bear, played by In Living Color vet David Alan Grier in a 400-pound fat suit, who first does a send-up of Jennifer Hudson’s show-stopping number from Dreamgirls, “And I Am Telling You,” then later tops that with a killer spotlight dance in the big competition sequence. In addition to Damon Jr., we counted nine additional Wayans in various cameos.

What’s good?: The actual dance numbers, including the big two that bookend the film, are hilarious, over-the-top and cleverly choreographed for ultimate comedic impact. The special effects and stunt teams clearly worked overtime on some of these moves. Sporadic moments of witty invention come along in between those set pieces, but the jokes are stale and uninspired for the most part.

What’s bad?: Clearly, director Damien Wayans and his all-Wayans writing and producing team (Keenan Ivory, Marlon, Shawn and Craig) cracked themselves up when creating these gags, but the hit-to-miss ratio is about to two-to-one on the negative side. And by the time the endlessly padded slow-motion end credits roll after just 75 minutes of this stuff, the spoof has completely run out of gas, resorting to lame gags about non-dance flicks like Twilight and the Samuel L. Jackson flop, Black Snake Moan.

Best supporting Wayans?: Hands-down, the small comic gems that work best all belong to Shawn Wayans as Baby Daddy, who is easily the worst father in cinema history. His bits rock.

Netflix or multiplex?: Netflix. Rent it and fast forward through the really, really dumb stuff to get to the really dumb stuff quicker.

Bottom line: Hollywood.com rated this film 2 stars.

What it’s about?: This follow-up to the 2006 smash hit Night at the Museum picks up shortly after the events of the first film, with one-time museum security guard Larry Daley now living the life of a famous inventor. One night he decides to pay a visit to his old haunt, the Museum of Natural History, where he discovers that some of his favorite exhibits (and old, not-so-inanimate friends) have been labeled as ‘out of date’ and are being shipped off to storage at the Smithsonian Institute archives. In no time, he gets a distress call from miniature cowboy Jedediah, who informs Larry that a group of history’s most notorious evil personalities, including Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon Bonaparte and Al Capone, are hatching a conspiracy. Together with their ringleader, the 3,000-year-old Egyptian pharaoh Kahmunrah, they plan to take over the Smithsonian and, after that, the world. Larry springs quickly into action, teaming up with Amelia Earhart and tries to save his old friends – and perhaps the planet – from the insidious invaders who’ve awakened from their slumber.

Who’s in it?: Ben Stiller returns as Larry, playing straight man once again to a legion of historical figures, including new and returning characters. Back from the original are Robin Williams as a spirited Teddy Roosevelt, Owen Wilson as Jedediah Smith, Steve Coogan as the Roman emperor Octavius, Patrick Gallagher as Attila the Hun and Mizuo Peck as Sacajawea. Ricky Gervais again appears briefly at the start and finish as museum curator Dr. McPhee. Welcome additions include a lively Amy Adams as the famed female flyer Earhart and a very funny Bill Hader (TV’s Saturday Night Live) as an insecure General Custer. Christopher Guest plays Ivan the Terrible, while Alain Chabat has lots of fun as Napoleon. Jon Bernthal’s Al Capone, meanwhile, is cleverly shot and isolated in vivid black and white. Best of all by a mile – and the real reason to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – is Hank Azaria, who plays Kahmunrah with brilliant comic timing and an affected speech pattern that’s highly amusing. The multi-talented Azaria (The Simpsons) provides the voices for two new, computer-enhanced characters: a towering Abraham Lincoln and Rodin’s sculpture of The Thinker. Jonah Hill also shows up in an early scene as a Smithsonian security guard who confronts Stiller – a subplot that goes nowhere.

What’s good?: Although this follow-up suffers from a severe case of ‘sequelitis,’ director Shawn Levy knows what makes this formula work for kids. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian deserves props as the rare studio blockbuster intent on actually providing a little education by making these important historical personalities come to such vivid life. Use of photos and paintings from the adjacent museums is the most inventive new wrinkle, serving as a clever interactive device for Stiller to use throughout the flick.

What’s bad?: The screenplay (again by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon) rehashes a lot of what was fresh in the first film, and the result feels roboticly recycled. Levy’s direction seems rushed at times, as if the filmmakers are afraid of anyone with an attention span beyond 30 seconds. Kids will eat this up, but aside from Azaria, there aren’t many laughs for Mom, Dad and older siblings.

Favorite scene: For pure visual-effects wizardry and wonder, you can’t beat the gang’s arrival at the Air and Space Museum, where the production actually shot for a week. It’s awe-inspiring. Amelia Earhart’s encounter there with the African-American Tuskegee Airmen is also a swell touch.

Netflix or multiplex?: Multiplex, but drop the kids off and go shopping instead.

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.