National Treasure: Book of Secrets Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)December 21st, 2007
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Sometimes all a movie wants is just to entertain us without any Oscar ambitions or big messages to deliver. NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, the sequel to 2004's NATIONAL TREASURE, is one such film. An unabashed popcorn flick, it even comes in a correctly rated and family friendly PG.
This time, veteran treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is out to clear his family's good name. Something of an Indiana Jones type of character who is adventuresome, resourceful and daring, Ben is trying to disprove the assertion that one of his ancestors was a previously unknown co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. But, in order to prove the accusation to be false, he has to follow a series of clues that will lead him to discover the legendary City of Gold.
Yes, I know. Finding the City of Gold in order to prove that one of your relatives was not involved in the murder of a president does seem awfully far-fetched, but this is not the type of movie that benefits from too much critical thinking. Unless you are willing early-on to suspend disbelief, you'll probably hate the film.
Accompanying Ben is his long-time assistant Riley Poole (Justin Bartha). Although Ben is estranged from his ex, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), they still enjoy bickering like an old married couple. And, like father like son, Ben's dad (Jon Voight) still loves fighting with his ex (Helen Mirren). All of them join in the hunt for the treasure.
"Of course, someone else is after the treasure," Riley explains. "It's the axiom of treasure hunting." Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), the really not-so-bad bad guy, heads up the competing team. Bruce Greenwood does a nice turn as "The President." His version of the national leader appears so laid back and calm that you feel that he must have outsourced his onerous responsibilities as commander-in-chief.
As the fearless treasure hunters follow one clue after another, the jokes come naturally to them. The best of the bunch is about why Mount Rushmore was built in the first place.
The ending is a bit too reminiscent of the first NATIONAL TREASURE and goes on a little long, but it does provide a satisfying resolution, while assuring us that the filmmakers will be more than happy to provide another sequel if we like this one enough.
Actually, the best part of NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS isn't the movie at all. The best part is a Goofy cartoon that is running ahead of it. About choosing and installing a home theater system, it is packed full of side-splitting humor. As Goofy wanders through a Best Buy-like store, he professes genuine love when he comes upon a large screen TV set with images that are three times life size. The installation of his equipment is funny too, since a crane is brought in to raise his house off its foundation so that his home theater system can be put in his living room. Perhaps the pièce de résistance is his universal remote, which has one button much like the red button which is used to stop an assembly line in an emergency.
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS runs 2:06. It is rated PG for "some violence and action" and would be acceptable for all ages.
My son Jeffrey, age 18, liked it a lot, albeit not as quite much as the original. Giving it *** 1/2, he said this one was funnier but relied less on solving puzzles. He especially liked the new character of the mother. Jeffrey's girlfriend Yasmin, also 18, gave it *** 1/2. She thought it was really funny and full of good twists and turns.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, December 21, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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