NATIONAL TREASURE

BOOK OF SECRETS

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: action/adventure violence

Rated:

Three years ago a thrilling adventure came out during the holiday season, National Treasure. Critics everywhere didn’t give this film a particularly favorable recommendation, but audiences made it a huge box office hit and if we were honest with ourselves, we’d have to say theirs is the opinion that really matters. Now this past holiday weekend a sequel has appeared and it too is well on its way to matching its predecessor by the numbers.

1865, five days after the end of the Civil War… a lonely dark street, a lone figure walking quickly through the desolate walkways, a back stage entrance that he walks through undetected, a man is shot, bringing confusion and screams everywhere.

Present Day… treasure Hunter Benjamin Gates (Nicholas Cage) is continuing on his speaking tours and engagements along with his father Patrick Gates (Jon Voight). Today, they are speaking on the assassination of one of our finest  Presidents, Abraham Lincoln. Just when his speech is finished, a man by the name of Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) accuses Ben’s great-grandfather Thomas of being the mastermind behind the assassination; his speculation comes from a missing page in John Wilkes Booth’s diary. Seeing how hard his father is taking it, Ben decides there is only one option: he must journey to find the proof he needs to clear his families’ name.

Sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) is now an author, having published his treasure seeking adventures, but when Ben reconnects with him, he is a bit down after a book signing. As Riley and Ben begin to unravel the first part of their puzzle in their latest hunt, they encounter Ben’s ex-girlfriend, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), who has heard of their quest and wants to help. This latest adventure leads Ben and company from Paris to London to South Dakota. This sequel was a bit of a surprise to me. After the conclusion to the previous film, I really didn’t think Disney would continue this series. However, once I read the announcement, it was exciting and something to look forward too. I was a little apprehensive that this wouldn’t hold up, but this is its own story, which is a big plus.

What we all loved from the first film was the humor, action that wasn’t “over the top,” and the fantastic fast-paced plot. The good thing about this movie is that all of those subjects are still there, along with a few new positive points. We get to meet Ben’s mother, Emily, who is played wonderfully by the great Helen Mirren. Due to her past roles, one might think that she shouldn’t be cast in this type of role, but she pulls it off quite well. Since the 1800’s is a most fascinating time of history to me, the historical part of these movies is a really enjoyable element, even if some of it is fictional. This movie opens in the 1800’s and even though the sequence only lasts five minutes at the most, I really enjoyed it. There are also a few scenes between Ben and the President (Bruce Greenwood), which is a really nice addition to the story; the President is portrayed as a classy guy who knows who are his foes and who is a friend.

Once again the acting is perfect and it really “made” the continuation to have its original cast back. Nicholas and Diane have a nice chemistry together and really play off one another well; in particular, a scene at Buckingham Palace was well-written and really garnered some chuckles. Riley has to be my favorite character though; his constant grumbling about the unfairness of his name not being well known is priceless. Jon Voight is still fantastic. The content in this PG-rated adventure is about the same level as the first. Violence is there, but never is it showed to be brutal but more intense. The opening sequence shows a man being shot in the head; another man also dies from a gunshot wound. On other occasions, guns are fired at people and often shoot out car windows and such. There are various tense situations; in the final half-hour our heroes must find a way out of a cave quickly filling with water; a man is briefly shown as having been crushed under a heavy weight. There are a couple of scenes that are somewhat suggestive involving Abigail; she passionately kisses her new boyfriend in order to distract him while Ben searches for something. Patrick encourages Ben to move back in with Abigail, so he can get his house back to himself. There is a car chase in London. At one point the cars take a path scattered with people who must quickly move out of the way, no one gets hurt though. There is some talk about drinking and we also see a few people drinking; Ben once pretends to be drunk in order to fool some guards.

As we go on this second adventure with our treasure seekers we find ourselves enjoying this just as well as the previous story. A big thumbs-up goes to Jon Turteltaub, Jerry Bruckheimer and company for their superb filmmaking with these PG-rated family adventure films. The photography is also splendid; the scenes in London, Paris and even South Dakota are exceptionally shot and since I have family in S. D. it was fun to see it in this. The score is also brilliant; it embodies every section of the film and really sets the tone for that certain sequence or scene. While these are more family-friendly than a lot of action movies out there, I wouldn’t recommend these for anyone ten and under due to some action violence and more mature subjects. This continuation is really its own unique story and that makes this all the more worth seeing, we even get a hint that this may possibly be a trilogy series. While there is the occasional scene you may feel has been a bit over-dramatized, the overall conclusion is fantastic. If you still plan to see something this weekend, make time to spend two hours with Ben and friends as it is certainly worth seeing on the big screen as well as the price of a movie ticket.