Review

Review Date: 23-December-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

The second "National Treasure" movie outdoes most sequels by maintaining the level of quality of the first, which, while not exceptionally high, produced some nifty ideas and a decent escape. In one respect it improves upon the original by downplaying the greed that offended this reviewer back in 2004. "Book of Secrets" still muddies its history-geek appeal with cookie-cutter situations, but at least this time Nicolas Cage and company are inwardly seeking wuv instead of loot. Maybe that results from a Christmas release instead of a Thanksgiving one.

"Book of Secrets" does typify a sequel in following the rule that bigger is better. Last time Cage's hero, Benjamin Franklin Gates, stole the Declaration of Independence and followed clues from Washington to Philadelphia to New York pursuing an archaeological treasure and ancestral dream. Now, to clear his family name, he jets to Paris, raids Buckingham Palace and the White House, waylays the President of the United States, unlocks the Library of Congress' biggest mystery, and explores Mount Rushmore in search of a legendary city of gold. (The niftiest invention here is a pair of desks fashioned like puzzle boxes.) The bigger the quarry, the more absurd the means of obtaining it, so Ben taps a fair amount of luck — along with the stupidity of the Secret Service and the excellent turning radius of the Mercedes-Benz — to attain his end.

Bigger also means more characters, and one can easily imagine the marketing meeting that took place before work on this movie began:

We know the kids and their parents love it. Now let's get grandma and grandpa, and all those empty nesters feeling bored during the holidays, into the theater too! We need some actors over 50 — but, by god, make sure they're sexy!

Thus "Book of Secrets" calls back the characters from the first movie, including Ben's comic sidekick (Justin Bartha), romantic interest (Diane Kruger), and sweetly boyish dad (Jon Voight), switching the bad guy to an ill-defined southern gentleman played by Ed Harris and adding Helen Mirren as Ben's mom and Bruce Greenwood as the President. (Harvey Keitel reappears as an FBI agent but is even more superfluous than before.) Everybody seems very concerned about historical veracity and American integrity, but what most are really after is rekindling an old flame or lighting a fresh one. This new purpose is better than riches yet equally uninspired. And should a family-oriented action-adventure flick be inspired? Why not? The "National Treasure" series is onto something with the notion of historical honor, with Ben's passion for the past as a blueprint for the present and his application of intelligence to achieve great deeds. I only wish the studio trusted (and had reason to trust) that this is reward enough for the viewer who joins his quest.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.