MOVIE: National Treasure: Book of Secrets
STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Jon Voight, Ed Harris, Helen Mirren, Harvey Kaitel
RELEASE DATE: December 21st, 2007
WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Disney+, Amazon Prime, AppleTV, Vudu)
By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)
Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Patrick Gats (Jon Voight) in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.
Not going to lie, I had high expectations going into National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I really enjoyed the first movie more than I thought I would, but I was curious about how they could possibly top stealing the Declaration of Independence. Well, it turns out, it’s pretty easy to top. For another first-time watch, let’s see how Book of Secrets stacks up to the first.
Ben Gates (Cage) and his father (played by Jon Voight) are talking about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the missing pages of John Wilkes Booth’s diary that possibly could lead to a lost golden city. They are blindsided by Mitch Wilkinson (played by Ed Harris) who claims to have proof that Gates’ ancestor was actually a conspirator in the shooting of Lincoln. Now, both Gates (father and son) must team back up with Abigail and Riley to go on another treasure hunt in order to clear their family name.
Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) in National Treasure: Book of Secrets,
I’ll start with my positive thoughts. The addition of Ed Harris as the villain and Helen Mirren playing Ben Gates’ mother adds more fun element to the film. I’m used to Harris playing villains, and most of the time, he usually steals the show. Helen Mirren and Jon Voight’s chemistry as a divorced couple is pretty cute. Their relationship slowly coming back together as Ben and Abigail's relationship is on the rocks, which pairs well. Ben and Abigail's turmoil stems from … I guess an argument over the usage of the word “So” and it’s context. It’s not very clear.
Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren) and Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
That leads to my negatives. National Treasure: Book of Secrets is seven minutes shorter than the first one, clocking in at 2 hours and 4 minutes yet it feels like it goes on forever. The first film felt like every scene had a purpose to keep the film moving. This felt like they had time to kill at certain points. Some scenes felt stretched out and made me ask, “Do I need to remember any of this?” The scene where Gates “kidnaps” the President was both interesting and boring at the same time, to use as an example. The one main chase sequence in the entire film even feels like a filler scene. Nothing interesting happens for 90% of it.
This film felt more filler than actual story overall with some really good beats thrown in. Because I found myself fading in and out at times, this falls more into the lower end of “OK” on the Nic Gauge.
