As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Night at the Museum
- When Larry is too late to save one of the cavemen before the sun rises.
- After Larry angrily refuses to play with Rexie, the dino sadly hangs down his tiny arms and huge head and growls tragically. You just wanna give the poor theropod a hug.
- Larry trying to explain with good intentions to Rebecca that the museum come to life at night and she thinks that he is mocking her passion for History.
- Before Larry freed him, Ahkmenrah's fate in the museum is both terrifying and utterly heartbreaking. He's trapped in a coffin for over fifty years screaming his head off. The fact that viewers can actually hear the the poor boy screaming only to be chastised by Teddy (along with the implication that the other exhibits didn't care about it) makes it much worse.
- Worse still, the way Teddy acts implies the reason they don't care is that they think they're safer with him in there. Why? Is it because he's the only real person among them?
Battle of the Smithsonian
- Larry struggling to tell Amelia she's not the real deal. What makes it more tragic is the start of their relationship. Not to mention it'll be her only night of life, given Larry has to return Ahkmenrah's tablet to the NY museum.
- The Reveal she knew about it the whole time. Back in New York, Amelia and Larry share one last deep, passionate kiss, before she climbs back to her aircraft and flies away into the night sky. Her fate is left ambiguous at best, but it's strongly implied she chose to be destroyed by the sun rather than spend the rest of her "life" as an inanimate statue.
- Heck, the ending of the 2nd Movie itself becomes bittersweet when you realize that all the new, quirky and wonderful characters who reside in the Smithsonian are never going to wake up again...
Secret of the Tomb
- Just the fact alone that this is one of the last films for both Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams.
- "In loving memory of Mickey Rooney," and "For Robin Williams - the magic never ends."
- Teddy letting go of Larry's hand during the Escher painting scene with Larry screaming Teddy's name as he falls to his doom. Thankfully Teddy survives but still.
- When Lancelot is having his emotional breakdown, refusing to give the tablet back to Larry as Teddy, Dexter and the others begin to turn lifeless exhibits, Larry trying to make sure Dexter stays with them, as Dexter becomes lifeless again.
- The focus on Dexter dying seems understandable as the others are not technically alive; just wax sculptures of people brought to life that are reverting back to statues... except for Akhmenrah. Akhmenrah was a mummy on display, and therefore once a living human being. He is the only one besides Dex who is actually dying, reverting back to a mummified corpse. However the movie glosses over his death to have the moment between Larry and Dex and Larry doesn't even spare Akhmenrah a glance. Kinda heartless when you take in the fact that the poor guy was already trapped in a coffin for over fifty years screaming his head off and when he's finally free and actively helping out Larry in both the first film and this one, he's ignored by the man who saved him while he's dying.
- After they decide to let Akhmenrah be with his family alongside the tablet, Larry saying his goodbyes to the exhibits at the end of the film.
- And for fans for Robin Williams the scene where Larry says goodbye to Teddy, in a way it's not just us saying goodbye to the character, but it's also us saying goodbye to Williams. Teddy's final line, which was also Robin's final line on camera seals it.
Teddy: Smile, my boy: it's sunrise. - Heck, the entire conflict of the film. The tablet is dying. After spending the previous two films seeing these characters and becoming attached to them...to see them, and the magic that brings them to life, dying is just sad to watch in general. Especially with how it's depicted over all. It's like the characters are dying throughout the film. The Reality Subtext with the deaths of Rooney and Williams mentioned above makes their scenes worse.
