Guilty Pleasure
I have a confession to make. I really enjoyed National Treasure, the predecessor of the Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which, by the way, I also liked despite there being a lot of things wrong with it.
I’m a sucker for revolutionary American history. I can’t get enough of stories about Ben Franklin, the founding fathers, their lives, loves, struggles, and personal foibles. So when a modern day action, adventure film built around the theft of the Declaration of Independence, with coded messages left by Franklin in his Silence Dogood letters, and a hunt for the treasure of the Knights Templar came out, I just had to see it!
The first National Treasure was a great popcorn flick. High cinematic art it was not, but it was fun. Even though I already know how Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is going to solve each riddle and overcome every obstacle, I still enjoy watching it on DVD.
As far as National Treasure: Book of Secrets goes, all I can say is if you liked the first film, you’ll probably enjoy the second one. Book of Secrets is virtually a shot-for-shot remake of the first film. Only the locations—Paris, London, Mt. Vernon, and Mt. Rushmore replacing Philadelphia, Boston, and New York—have been changed, and two new cast members added.
“This one really isn’t that different from the first one,” Jon Turtletaub, director of both National Treasure films, told reporters while promoting Book of Secrets.
Image copyright © Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: Robert Zuckerman Left to right: Helen Mirren, Justin Bartha, Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger.
One More Time
This time out, Ben Gates (Cage) and his father Professor Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) find their celebratory status as America’s premiere historians and treasure hunters threatened by the discovery of one of the long-lost pages from the diary of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. The diary was found on Booth’s body when he was killed; however, several pages had been torn from the diary and have never been found…until now.
Information on a fragment of one of the found pages seems to implicate their ancestor, Thomas Gates, as a coconspirator in the assassination of President Lincoln.
Ben is determined to restore the Gates family honor and teams up, once again, with American history archivist Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) and his dating-challenged, techno-geek sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha).
After bickering their way into a relationship at the conclusion of the first National Treasure, Gates and Chase are returned to their adversarial roles, having conveniently broken up their relationship prior to the start of Book of Secrets.
Bartha’s hapless Riley Poole’s only option in life, after just as conveniently squandering the fortune he made when helping buddy Ben find the first treasure, is to rejoin his friend on his latest quest.
Replacing Sean Bean in the role of the treasure-obsessed heavy, Ed Harris joins the cast as Mitch Wilkinson, a man with his own murky historical past. Wilkinson’s ambitions are less noble than merely discovering treasure.
Also joining the cast—in a role that she’s completely wasted in—is Helen Mirren, who plays Patrick’s one-dimensional ex-wife, linguistics professor Emily Appleton. Emily and Patrick haven’t spoken in 32 years and when they do resume speaking to one another, it’s instantly obvious that theirs is an earlier version of Ben and Abigal’s squabbling relationship.
With all principal characters reset to their starting positions in the first National Treasure film, the game is afoot and National Treasure: Book of Secrets finally gets rolling. It rolls across oceans and continents and, thanks to the fact that it’s a Jerry Bruckheimer production, there’s lots and lots of action along the way.
Watch a clip of one of the action sequences at the end of this article.—Editor
And then there’s the matter of what to do to top the theft of the Declaration of Independence, and not only getting away with it but being handsomely rewarded and made a hero to boot.
Image copyright © Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: Robert Zuckerman Ed Harris.
Director Jon Turtletaub does an excellent job of weaving historical fact and fiction in and out between car chases and comic banter. The Book of Secrets pacing and superb cinematography are excellent.
With its larger budget, Book of Secrets takes to the road hopping from Paris to Buckingham Palace, the streets of London and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Instead of simply using these far flung locations as backdrops, director Turtletaub does a great job of making each an integral part of the story.
There’s nothing outstanding about any of the performances in Book of Secrets, and there’s nothing wrong with any of them either. Cage, Harris, Voight, and Bartha hit every note and do a good job of bringing depth to some otherwise fairly shallow characters. Harvey Kietel, returning as FBI agent Sadusky, and Bruce Greenwood, as “The President,” are left—as are Diane Kruger and Helen Mirren—with limited screen time and exceedingly flat dialog.
In a refreshing reversal of typical “senior” roles, Voight and Mirren have their share of action sequences, and they get to play them for thrills rather than laughs.
Despite all of its flaws, I still found myself enjoying National Treasure: Book of Secrets nearly as much as I enjoyed the first National Treasure. It was just fun, and there’s nothing wrong with fun.—C+
Walt Disney Pictures Presents
A Jerry Bruckheimer Film
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Rated: PG
Watch a Scene From the Film (requires QuickTime 7)
