NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS: A SECOND RATE INDIANA JONES
The first National Treasure with Nicholas Cage and company was an unexpected treat. The film took its audience on a historical treasure hunt that was fun. It was successful. Not surprisingly, a sequel was made and National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the result. Unfortunately, it isn’t half the movie that its original was. It is ludicrous, badly acted, and missing something called a plot.
Benjamin Gates (Nicholas Cage) has seen better days. He has moved out of his big, expensive house that he shared with former girlfriend Abigail (Diane Kruger). He is living with his dad Patrick (Jon Voight). And after a lecture that he gives on his great grandfather Thomas Gates, a man name Mitch Wilkinson (Jon Voight) comes forward claiming that Thomas Gates was part of the conspiracy to kill President Lincoln and that John Wilkes Booth was just a stooge. He produces a missing part of Booth’s diary with a list of men who were in on it, including Gates. Ben is rightly outraged and sets out to prove this new evidence is wrong. It sets him on an adventure to Paris, London, and even to kidnap the President at Mount Vernon. Tagging along for the ride is his sidekick Riley (Justin Bartha), Abigail, Patrick, and even Ben’s mom Emily (Helen Mirren).
The story is ludicrous. There are so many holes that it can barely be called a story. It has plenty of adventure and twists and turns abound. The main problem is that the movie wants you to suspend all belief when it comes to what happens. It tries to be a Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones all rolled into one. The difference between those films and National Treasure is that there is a degree of credibility to the other films. For example, it cannot expect the audience to believe how easy it is for Ben to get close to the President. Nicholas Cage gets sadder and sadder with every role he does. He is not an actor with a vast amount of rage and yet we are tortured with his attempts at humor in the movie. He can do the quirky humor such as The Weather Man and Adaptation. But mainstream is not his niche. The rest of the ensemble does not do much better of a job but they are also given terrible dialogue and ridiculous situations. The locales are the best part of the film with the movie taking us to Paris, London, Washington D.C. and to even Mount Rushmore. The City of Gold is even a sight, reminding me of the end of The Goonies and the delight the kids felt when they discovered the pirates’ ship.
The storyline is too contrived and preposterous for somebody to believe and engage themselves in the movie. You sit in disbelief throughout the movie, making it hard to take it seriously. It is missing that good popcorn fun that came with the first film.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets had potential. A cast with a good pedigree, good groundwork laid from the previous movie, and historical locations. But that is as far as it goes. A missing storyline makes this movie anything but a treasure. More like fool’s gold.
