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“If it ain’t
broke, don’t fix it,” seems to be the motto that the minds
behind National Treasure: Book of Secrets live by for the
film’s first ninety minutes. They do this to great success; as
derivative as the story may seem of its predecessor, it
admittedly plays as a perfectly entertaining action-adventure
confection. The cast of characters is back in full-form and is
solving yet another elaborate treasure hunt—devastating
consequences to result if they fail—amidst lavishly-imagined
visual-effects and impeccably-constructed action-sequences. Once
they find their treasure (I hope I’m not spoiling anything for
those who suspend Disbelief as it if were a religion), however,
things begin to get problematic for the narrative. For over a
half an hour, writers Cormac and Marianne Wibberley and director
Jon Turtletaub bookend the picture by dumping protagonist Ben
Gates (Nicolas Cage) in situations of dire peril. Watching
these, the viewer realizes that they frankly don’t care very
much about Ben and, accordingly, no longer have a vested
interest in the film’s outcome as a whole. Had National
Treasure: Book of Secrets found a tidy resolution in its
characters’ wild third-act discovery, it would have been just as
rewarding as the original National Treasure. As it is,
the movie feels far too bloated and downright long (it
ends up clocking in at 124 minutes) to be deemed the
preposterous entertainment that it wants to be.
In this second
installment of what promises to be a long-living franchise, Ben
and crew engage in a treasure-hunt in order to clear the name of
Ben’s great-grandfather, who has been implicated in the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln by the mysterious Mitch
Wilkinson (Ed Harris). After Ben delivers a lecture that lauds
his great-grandfather as a historical hero, Mitch publicly
presents Ben with a missing page of Lincoln-assassin John Wilkes
Booth’s diary that pins the man as one of Booth’s
co-conspirators. Of course, Ben doesn’t believe Mitch’s claim
and sees the need to investigate it. With the help of now
ex-girlfriend cryptologist Abigail Chase (the always-likable
Diane Kruger), he discovers a hidden cipher on the page that
Mitch has presented him. Is the page a legit find, or is it just
the conniving Mitch’s attempt to lure Ben into a greater set-up?
The answer involves the mythical Lost City of Gold, which Ben
must find through information he acquires by sneaking into the
Queen’s private quarters at Buckingham Palace, kidnapping the
President of the United States, and running from both sides of
the law as quickly as he possibly can.
The bulk of
National Treasure: Book of Secrets thrives. As previously
mentioned, the first ninety minutes represent a well-done
exercise in ridiculousness, simply entertaining by evoking the
human desire to solve puzzles. The viewer is engaged by Ben,
Abigail, and cohorts because they sympathize with the plight
that said characters find themselves in: having to uncover clues
and use them to accomplish a greater task. Not to mention, the
film is expertly crafted along the way, with breathtaking
chase-scenes that are incredibly involving. Given how
captivating these can be, it’s no wonder that “the Wibberleys”
(as they call themselves in the end-credits) and Turtletaub
assumed that their chosen finale would be, too. But, no matter
what the trio’s rationale for this was, it still represented a
horrendous oversight on their part. In all of his calculated
monotony, Ben just isn’t a likable enough human (or a disposable
enough character) for the viewer to worry about his safety from
death. Sure, the viewer can enjoy his presence as he leads the
group’s treasure-hunt in the film, but there’s no reason for
them to do so beyond this. If National Treasure: Book of
Secrets really needed to be two hours long, then it could’ve
put the more-vulnerable and more-empathetic Abigail in peril at
the end. The truth of the matter, however, is that the movie
only exists because of studio Buena Vista’s corporate desire to
use it to rake in high box-office returns. Because of its very
commercial nature, the film’s long running-length represents
only an act of big-headedness and miscalculation on the part of
its makers.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 12.23.2007
Screened on:
12.22.2007 at the Edwards San Marcos 18 in San Marcos, CA.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets is
rated PG and runs 123 minutes.
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