From everything I had heard about this movie, I was expecting a rather bland, poorly made little flick. Expectations mean a lot though. “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” won’t win any awards, but I found it to be the great movie for the holiday season. It was fun, friendly and one of the few movies an entire family can actually enjoy.
Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is back, this time taking the same team from the first movie to prove his ancestor’s innocence in the assassination of President Lincoln. The absurd goose chase leads him to various parts of the world concerning historical monuments and artifacts. This all takes place while he ends up being pursued by fellow treasure hunters and the United States government for “kidnapping” the President.
Subplots include trouble in paradise, as Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) has kicked out our beloved hero, Ben’s father (Jon Voight) finds a way to reconcile with his ex-wife (Helen Mirren) and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) looks for a little recognition. Throw in Ed Harris as the not-so-antagonistic antagonist and you have one star-studded movie. But is it any good?
Most complaints about the “National Treasure” sequel have been pretty predictable, and they’re more or less right. It is historically inaccurate, absurd and it offers a lot of what we remember in the first movie. Yet isn’t that why we see this movie? It’s not suppose to be high art, it’s suppose to be a fun family film and, as one, it passes with flying colors. Meanwhile, the entire cast delivers solid performances and keeps the movie fun.
Once again, this movie is probably a history teacher’s worst nightmare, but why is that a flaw? Films have rearranged world history hundreds of times in order to suit its needs; even the most implausible stories have become legendary movies. The Indiana Jones movies come to mind! Granted the “National Treasure” movies aren’t anywhere near the quality of the Indiana Jones flicks, but they have both committed the same “crime.”
I also commend this movie for not winking at the audience with inside jokes from the previous film. It seems many sequels these days enjoy paying “homage” to their predecessors. While this isn’t a bad thing, and can certainly be really cool, it also is an overused tactic. Why do sequels spend so much time uttering lines from prequels just for audience reaction? I often have no problem with it, but I’ve recently felt it’s a technique that has been exhausted. The Wibberleys stay away from such methods and throw in new jokes and fresh lines to entertain the audience. Much of it works well.
“National Treasure: Book of Secrets” isn’t a movie that will change lives, but it is one that will be fun to share with your closest family. In an age where family films are sparse, cliché and just plain bad, it’s good to have one that parents and children can agree on. I’ll probably eat my words for this once the new Indiana Jones movie gets released, but for right now “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” is the perfect family adventure movie and was great for the holidays. Cage has mentioned the hope of doing a third and I truly welcome it.
*** out of ****
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