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Techtite's Movie Reviews! |
"More whimsical American history fairy tales, though sadly the story doesn't advance much...in case you wanted that." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No Sidebar comments for this review. Yet...
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National Treasure:Book of Secrets
A Review by TechtiteYeah, I know; if there was a "book of secrets," it would probably contain the answer to why one of Disney's not-so-critically-acclaimed titles earned a sequel. Personally, I was totally on the bubble with National Treasure "1", and felt it was acceptable whimsical fun if not taken so seriously. Does the sequel earn as much...praise?Let's cover the pluses from a sequel standpoint: all your favorites return. Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) is back, searching for yet another fictional treasure in American history. Tagging along yet again is trusty best friend Riley (Justin Bartha), who we learn has written a book since the first movie's adventure. Also along for the ride is love interest Abigail (Diane Kruger), who we learn has since broken up with Benjamin. Why? So the sequel can start from the beginning when it didn't have to; that's why. Seriously; if you are going to ask if these two "ex" lovers will get back together again in the finale, you are thinking too hard. Not that I'm trying to be sarcastic. This sequel works, when seen as the harmless popcorn flick that it is. This is mostly due to an amusing item to search for: the "book of secrets," which supposedly houses every president's secrets since the foundation of the country. From Area 51 to who shot JFK, this fictional book supposedly has it. It also has the location of another pot-of-gold, so to speak, and that has a new villain (played by Ed Harris) curious. He gets Gates curious, too, after alleging that a torn page from the book seemingly implicates Gates' great grandfather for plotting the assassination of Lincoln. Gates must get the book to clear his family name...though finding it will also help the bad guys get to the treasure. The work of action heroes is never easy! True, the story is hardly epic. If you're a stickler for accurate history telling, you'd best avoid a movie where history is used as a mere footnote. On the other hand, if you always loved those classic "Mister Peabody" cartoons which ribbed history a little, you'll have some nice harmless fun with this one. Yes, we're all pretty sure the president's desk doesn't have secret compartments revealed with special hidden buttons. Yes, we're even more sure that Mount Rushmore does not contain hidden buttons revealing hidden staircases within. It would be fun if it did, though, right? That's what this sequel is: harmless whimsical fun. Not that I'm ready to forgive this film for any flaw. I just haven't gotten to the "real" flaw yet. Here it is: from a sequel standpoint, little is offered here, for fans of the original film. Gates goes for more treasure and reunites with his girl. Well; the former was predictable, and the latter depends on a split-up that was complete cornball for the purpose of unnecessary sequel angst. Remember when Lethal Weapon 2 revealed the true killer of Riggs' late wife? Then there's the moment when we learn in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, specifically, what caused "Judgment Day" and when (ask not why the craptacular Terminator 3 rewrote the story completely, making the once-super-computer Skynet into...a tiny computer virus? But, I digress...). What I'm getting at is: this sequel offers nothing new for the characters or their respective back stories. It's another quest for another treasue, and that's it. However, much like the first movie, it's the search for this treasure that's worth the ride. True, we don't get any more depth to the characters than the prior movie had. Nor do we get a deeper glimpse into the mystery that is Benjamin Gale's mystery-obsessed family. We don't even get a deeper glimpse into Benjamin and Abigail's love life, which isn't going to please any girlfriends whose boyfriends wanted to see this and not, say, Disney's Enchanted. It's not a bad sequel at all. Much like the original, it's only real problem is how it is half of what it could have been.
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