Review: National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

[Jerry Saravia]

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (2007)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: One star and a half

I love pulp adventure, especially the escapist variety, both literary
and cinematic. Alan Quatermain, Indiana Jones, and well, even Conan
the Barbarian come to mind. I especially love the sight of intrepid
heroes in caves carrying torches, looking for buried treasure. The
original "National Treasure" fulfilled my appetite for such movies.
"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" starts off with a fascinating
backstory that is paced like a rip-roaring engine and then, it
sputters and dies, pulling the rug from under us to reveal nothing.

Nicolas Cage (who was far more animated in the first "National
Treasure") is back as Dr. Ben Gates, a treasure hunter who is an
expert on history and deciphering codes. A stranger makes an
admission, in a scene that looks vaguely "Da Vinci Code-like", that
Gates' own great grandfather had a hand in Lincoln's assassination.
Ben Gates and his father, Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight), are
astounded and disturbed by this admission. So Gates and company,
including returnees Abigail (Diane Kruger) and the computer savvy
sidekick, Riley (Justin Bartha), are on a mission based on a fading
19th century letter that takes them to France's Statue of Liberty,
Buckingham Palace and, finally, Mt. Rushmore where a fabled city of
gold exists. For some reason or another, the Lincoln assassination may
or may not have a connection to this impenetrable city of Gold, and
one of the clues is hidden in the Statue of Liberty and in a secret
book belonging to the President of the U.S.!

This "National Treasure" movie initially had me glued from the
beginning, and I was curious to see where the details and deciphering
of codes would take me. The problem is that the whole film is a
convoluted, contrived mess of a movie that grows more and more
preposterous as it proceeds. I am willing to forsake logic and
disbelief if the story or the characters are at least mildly
intriguing, but this is nothing more than an extended chase scene that
leads nowhere. The connection between Lincoln's death and the city of
gold is so tenuous, it merely feels like it is tacked on for the hell
of it. After a while, I began to stop caring and the finale inside
this city of Gold, more of an elaborate chamber that can quickly fill
with water, is only a faint, tedious echo of what would work
infinitely better in an Indiana Jones movie.

Nicolas Cage tries hard and he has a couple of funny moments where he
overacts (I like the homage to "Roman Holiday"), but he looks mostly
indifferent throughout this film. Diane Kruger as Abigail, the
girlfriend, is reduced to an anonymous blonde whose central
preoccupation is tagging along with Gates because he is allegedly the
hero - unfortunately, there is still no chemistry between them. Jon
Voight and Helen Mirren both look perplexed and confused, lending
zilch to nothing roles as Ben Gates' parents. Ed Harris always manages
to bring integrity to his roles but I can't quite figure out his
character's purpose. Harvey Keitel slips in and out of this movie like
a snake. Only Justin Bartha gives a lively enough performance. I love
his first few scenes where his Ferrari is taken by the IRS and how he
tries to sell his conspiracy book to no avail. If he had been the
lead, this would've been a more fun ride (and I do ordinarily like
Nicolas Cage).

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is empty popcorn filmmaking
designed to entertain us yet it fails to since it has nothing up its
sleeve and no real story. It is by-the-numbers filmmaking of the worst
kind - it is bereft of imagination and has no sense of wonder or
excitement.

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