Movie Review: National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Another great blend of action and comedy

Cons: The story is weaker then the first time around.

The Bottom Line:

A weaker story

But characters are still fun

Fans of first will like

"I Went to Buckingham Palace and All I Got Was This Block of Wood."

National Treasure was a surprise hit. While it didn't cry out for a sequel, I wasn't too surprised when I heard one was coming out. I loved the first one enough I had to go see the second. And yes, it is a sequel. But National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is still an entertaining one.

Thomas Gates (Joel Gretsch) had a reputation for ciphers. That's why John Wilkes Booth sought him out the night he assassinated President Lincoln. But when Thomas realized he was helping a group that wanted to keep fighting the Civil War, he tour the pages from Booth's diary and tried to burn them.

At least that's the story the Gates family has always believed. Suddenly, Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) has come forward with one of those missing pages. On the page is proof that Thomas Gates was in on the assassination.

It's just not that easy for Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) and his father Patrick (Jon Voight) to believe. They just know that if they examine the page, they'll find proof that Thomas is innocent of the charges. Enlisting the help of Riley (Justin Bartha) and Abigail (Diane Kruger), they set out to redeem the family name. To do so, they have to find the ancient Indian City of Gold. And they have to enlist the help of Ben's mother Emily (Helen Mirren), who hasn't spoken to Patrick in 32 years. With someone hot on their trail, can they complete their new quest?

Let's the honest, the first movie had plenty of flaws. But it told a fast paced story with lots of humor. This one is pretty much the same. The flaws are a little more pronounced this time, but it is just as funny as the first.

Unlike the first one, all the best lines didn't go to Riley. He still gets his share, but all the leads seem to have plenty of one liners here. Many of them are quick, so you've got to pay attention. And several of the great lines from the previews got cut. Either that or I missed them while getting caught up in the story.

The movie has a similar plot to the first. Once again, we are following hidden in plan sight ciphers and solving some obscure riddles to find an ancient treasure. However, the clues and settings are different enough that it doesn't feel anything like the first. Our characters spend some time in Europe, for example.

And the acting is still great. The actors keep things real enough so that we get caught up in the suspenseful moments and laugh at the comical ones.

Having said all this, the story does have some flaws. First of all, the movie opens with a Civil War setting, and that setting kicks off the story. Now maybe I missed something (it took me two or three viewings to make all the connections in the first one), but why are they using a page from Civil War times to track items which date from the 1870's and 80's?

On top of that, the story just seems a little lazy. There are several times that plot points get glossed over. Yes, we can make the leap and guess what happened or why, but it would have been nice if we were told. Frankly, it feels like scenes were cut out of the two hour movie to make it shorter. It'll be interesting to see what if anything we get on the DVD release.

Finally, there is the villain. I felt he was much weaker this go around. In fact, the movie wasn't nearly as fast paced as the first one. And FBI Agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) really doesn't have much to do. In fact, the movie wouldn't really have changed if he hadn't been in it.

Now all this may sound like I didn't care for the movie. That's not at all true. While it has some serious flaws, it is fun, and that is ultimately what this is all about. So if you are looking for pure escapism, look no further then National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.