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.
Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) in National Treasure.
In the words of the greatest treasure/artifact hunter, Indiana Jones, “It belongs in a museum”. If you have seen an Indiana Jones film, then you already know how these kinds of films go. Once again, I am here to admit to everyone, this was my first time watching National Treasure. So, you already have a rough idea of what the next film will be, but what did I think of this heavily memed film?
Historian and code-breaker, Ben Gates (played by Nic Cage) and treasure hunter, Ian Howe (played by Sean Bean), have been on the hunt for an ancient treasure. Their latest clue causes a rift in their partnership as they have to look at the back of The Declaration of Independence. Ian decides to leave Ben and his colleague Riley (played by Justin Bartha) for dead when he decides to steal the historic document. Ben survives and decides that in order to keep the Declaration and treasure out of Ian’s hands, he would need to steal it first. While in the act of stealing it, he accidentally gets curator, Abigail Chase (played by Diane Kruger) involved. With her help and the Declaration in hand, Ben goes on the greatest treasure hunt in American history.
Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) in National Treasure.
This film overall is fine. I did enjoy it, but it just makes me think about how it’s just an upgraded version of the aforementioned Indiana Jones series. That’s not a bad thing to say, because I do enjoy treasure hunt films, especially when it involves booby-trapped rooms and such and that is something this film lacked. Where were the booby traps?! Just a minor gripe, but still a gripe.
Speaking of gripes, my main one was actually in the villain of the film, Ian Howe. He is considered to be just as resourceful as Ben when it comes to figuring out where to go next for clues in this film. Yet, he ends up doing the bare minimum and still finds a way to catch up to Ben at every turn. There is a scene where Ben gets a whole clue/riddle by sending a kid into a museum to decipher letters, then spending 10 minutes talking it out before figuring out where to go. Ian on the other hand, just gets the last four letters of the clue from the kid and uses the internet to use the top search as the answer.
Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) and Ian Howe (Sean Bean) in National Treasure.
My overall feelings about this film are that it is acted well by everyone, the action and suspense were alright, but there are a couple of minor details that bugged me. Not enough to make it unenjoyable, but just enough that it made me question some of the choices that were made. I’ll be curious to see how this affects my first viewing of the sequel. National Treasure sits in the middle of “Good” on the Nic Gauge.
