Starring: Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Greenwood

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub

Walt Disney Pictures

The Official Site of National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Discuss National Treasure: Book of Secrets on the boards!

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is this holiday’s big sequel. More action, more treasure, more Nicolas Cage! (Seriously, the guy does like 5 movies a year. I acknowledge that he’s a legitimate movie star but he’s really just playing the percentages.) I’m all for more National Treasure though. The original, a surprise hit for Disney that took in a 35 million dollar opening weekend (round two up that to 45) gave the world a modern day Indian Jones with an American History theme and high-tech Short Round. In the long run, Cage’s character Benjamin Franklin Gates is no Dr. Jones, but when it comes to guys finding stuff, the fast-paced, smart adventure was some welcome filler.

Along with more action, adventure, and questions about Cage’s hairline we’re given some not-so-welcome additions to the franchise. Big name stars collecting paychecks, bad guys that we’re not sure if we should like or not and so many clues that we forget what our heroes were supposed to be looking for in the first place. You know… the standard sequel pitfalls that make you wish you’d just rented Temple of Doom in the first place. But even with its faults, National Treasure is hard to hate.

Book of Secrets picks up a couple years after the events of the first movie where the windfall of their first big treasure hunt has come back to haunt our three stars. Lovebirds Ben (Cage) and Abigail (Diane Kruger) are on the rocks and bickering over historically significant end tables in a very “like they’re not going to kiss and make up eventually� kind of way. Meanwhile, tech-wizard Riley (Justin Bartha) is coping with being the second banana of the world’s greatest treasure hunter, as the IRS cracks down on him for problems with that first big score. Mo money Mo problems.

After a quick introduction that rips away the high point of the original films ending, the new hunt is introduced. In comes Ed Harris accusing a Gates ancestor of being a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. Well, obviously this doesn’t sit well with the Gates family, proud American’s that will now hunt down the truth to clear the family name!

This is a fantastic premise that launches the team into puzzle solving mode right off the bat, but things quickly go off track. The movie loses focus as clue after clue leads to bigger, potentially unrelated mysteries. Suddenly our characters are looking for Native American Cities of Gold and Presidential Books of Secrets and no one seems to be concerned at all with the movies original motivation of clearing the family name. In fact, even as the team rushes through said Golden Cities and thumbs through said Secret Books, I can’t say for sure how anything that happens in the last 15 minutes of the film accurately offers proof that Ben’s relative wasn’t involved in Lincoln’s death. I mean, I get what happen (spoiler free!) but the incentive that began the treasure hunt seemed to be the furthest thing from anyone’s mind when the credits rolled.

The addition of Harris and, the Queen herself Helen Mirren, is great even if the two characters teeter between being underused and misused all the way through the film. Mirren plays Ben’s mother and her relationship with Ben’s father (a returning Jon Voight) wonderfully echoes the same problems that Ben and Abigail are now having in their low key, post treasure hunting lives. Both couples suffer the Speed factor. A relationship built on adrenaline can’t last forever. If anything, this comparison reminds us that the National Treasure films are ones built around family and how the same passions and faults can be passed down from generation to generation.

As for Harris’ character I have only one problem – he’s all over the place! He’s essentially a more aggressive version of Ben with the same end goal of discovering the undiscovered and honoring his family’s name, and that’s fine, but are we supposed to hate him or admire him? It may not seem necessary to break it down to two extremes, but for a character that in one second will have a knife at your throat and in the next will be imploring you to (…trying to figure out a way to say this without spoiling the movie…) honor his discoveries, it’s easy to hate him and hard to feel sorry for him. Especially when Ben, the superior treasure hunter, tops him at every turn.

In the third act there are moments where it’s clear that you’re supposed to loath him. This is a lying manipulator that will do whatever he needs to reach his goal but for some reason, at movie’s end, we’re meant to revere him. At least a little anyway... I don’t buy it.

In the end Ben shows him a respect that I’m not so sure he deserved, and leaving the theater, the undefined role of this character left me cold. He’s a lot more complicated than the first movies baddie Sean Bean, and the complexity of the character only… um… complicates (?) the movies big climactic scene. Complexity can work, it doesn’t here. Sometimes a bad guy just needs to be bad.

But that’s nothing. For those of you that enjoyed the cat and mouse play between Cage and Harvey Keitel ‘s Government man hunter in the first film, don’t expect any of that this time around. Keitel sleepwalks through his 6 scenes barely registering any emotion making Cage’s wooden gaze, suddenly the most vibrant and appealing thing on screen. It was a disappointment considering how entertaining both actors can be, but how much can we expect when the pot is this full?

With 8 major players in a movie that’s average scene lasts about 45 seconds, it’s not uncommon that some characters and performances are going to get lost in the shuffle. But even with no spark from Keitel, an undefined villain, and a motivation lost in barrage of clues, the movie is still a blast! The sharp puzzles and character evolution are hopefully two things that will carry over to the inevitable part three. But unless they can think of something interesting for them to do, it may be time to trim the support. Maybe papa Gates gets kidnapped by Nixon’s ghost. That takes at least one talking head out of the equation plus you get… you know… Nixon’s ghost. I’d go see that.

Rating: 7 out of 10 - In comparison to the first film National Treasure 2 feels a little clumsy, a little unfocused. They should never have let Nic Cage pretend to be drunk even if he did win an Oscar for doing it 12 years ago. A handful of jokes fall flat in a silent, unimpressed audience, and the desperate attempt to make an American History movie appeal to a worldwide audience by taking a 15 minute trip to Paris and London feels unnecessary.

The first National Treasure scored huge overseas so they didn’t really need that appeal. But with a second movie the stakes must be raised, and a trip to Europe seems to be the go-to move these days. It’s not awful though, in fact the great escape from Buckingham Palace as well as the bit with the Queens desk is classic treasure hunting adventure, but couldn’t that just as easily been Ben Franklin’s desk?

It doesn’t matter. The movie is a good time either way, and I say that as someone looking past some obvious flaws and embracing the sheer fun and spirit that the movie inspires. I can’t wait for round three!

Absolutely. While the movie doesn’t have quite the same charm or drive as its predecessor it still proves to be a truly entertaining couple of hours. An adventure that I’m sure I’ll appreciate more the more often it spins around my DVD player. Plus, I really enjoy National Treasure as a franchise. I love the puzzles and the characters and I long to see the adventure continue. To ensure that happens the least I can do is shell out a few more dollars.

Tonight He Comes/Hancock - What is this movie even called? I could have sworn it was Hancock but some movie sites are favoring Tonight He Comes. IMDB prefers the former. I guess it doesn’t really matter right now. They’ve got until July 2nd to figure it out.

You heard me right. A big budget, special effects, block busting Will Smith movie is being released on “July 2nd�. It is officially the return of Big Willy Weekend! While there are some us out here that believe Big Willy Weekend never went away, there are others that actually saw Wild Wild West and would beg to differ. But with I Am Legend scoring so big this holiday it doesn’t matter how many weird, technological westerns Smith has ever made – he’s back on top and writing his own ticket. And if Hancock is half as good as the teaser makes it out to be, we might just find ourselves right in the middle of Big Willy Summer.

I’ll spare you the details of the trailer, just follow that link and check out this realistic take on superheroes in Hancock, a movie that should prove to be as laugh-out-loud funny as it is visually superb.

A quick thanks to Gordon for the shout out in last weeks Multiplex where he brought back to life an old JLCM “nerd� joke. And he did it quite well.

And since it’s Christmas and all, why not send your friends and family a JLCM themed Holiday card!? The AvP card that I made, as well as three other cards from other talented creators, are available for download or e-card via the good people at Clickwheel. Spread the cheer and have a great holiday everyone!