Movie Review - 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets'

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Starring Nicolas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger and Ed Harris
Directed by Jon Turtletaub
Rated PG

National Treasure was a popcorn flick with high-minded goals; Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is Indiana Jones without a bullwhip and fedora, trotting around the globe in search of long-lost treasure that unlock civilizations or societies kept secret for centuries.

The irony is Ben Gates is always losing his remote control.

Gates' first two adventures - and there have been rumors, mostly circulated by Cage, that there might be more - are American to the core. In the original, Gates and his sidekick Riley (Justin Bartha) steal the Declaration of Independence and vandalize Liberty Hall in Philadelphia all in an attempt to solve the mystery of Templars' gold. It was just a Scooby Doo episode with less phantoms and a bigger payout, but it was damn fun.

For the sequel, Gates and Riley re-team with Gates' dad (Jon Voight) and Gates' comely ex-girlfriend (Diane Kruger) to try to unlock the assassination of Abe Lincoln and what it has to do with the Lost City of Gold.

Wait a minute: Don't we know who killed Lincoln, because he jumped on stage and announced it and all? Yes, you're right. But there's suddenly some confusion about the conspirators who worked with John Wilkes Booth, thanks to new evidence in the possession of the shady Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris).

What I admired most about National Treasure was its sense of humor standing on equal footing with its sense of adventure. The sequel tries way too hard to revive it, and that sort of moviemaking never works. The jokes are obvious this time, so they tend to fall flat. And the stakes for adventure haven't been raised so much as they've been complicated, by adding superfluous cast members and obstacles to overcome.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is, for worse more than better, just a sequel.