For the days when you just want to watch a film that doesn’t take too much effort on your part, Jerry Bruckheimer Films has brought to the big screen the sequel to 2004’s National Treasure. Say hello to the not-so-imaginatively titled National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, which, in case you had any doubt, is about the Exciting Adventure of Ben Gates and Friends in the Quest for the Book of Secrets (if that latter part sounded like an Enid Blyton novel, then consider yourself well-warned!). In the first National Treasure movie, we are introduced to Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage), Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) as they search for a mythical treasure, hotly pursued by the enemy. Book of Secrets doesn’t risk changing this tried-and-tested formula much, so here we have the trio attempting to find and unravel the mystery behind the hidden Book of Secrets that is only ever seen by the men who hold the office of President of the United States, again in hot pursuit by their enemies, who have also heard of the Book (but of course). Some domestic disputes (Gates and his father - Jon Voight as Patrick Gates, also reprising his role in the first part - are continuously squabbling with their respective partners, Kruger and a gorgeous Helen Mirren as Emily Appleton, Patrick Gates’ ex-wife), a Presidential kidnapping and many action-sequences in the US and London later, the mystery is solved and all is well with the world.
However, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets isn’t the boring movie that it could have been. For starters, there is a reasonably engaging plot. Gates has a solid reason for searching for the Book of Secrets: his great-grandfather is mentioned in a recently-discovered page from John Wilkes Booth’s diary, thereby potentially implicating him in Abraham Lincoln’s murder (yes, I did tell you it bears a resemblance to kiddie adventure books, albeit in an adult way), and Gates has to clear his name, which he has to unravel the mystery of the Book of Secrets for. But apart from that, the film is extremely fast-paced, laced with witty humor throughout and has some very able entertainers in the lead roles. Sample this, a dialogue between Ben Gates and his trusted sidekick Riley Poole in one of the action sequences:
“Ben: Riley, what do you see?
Riley: Death and despair! Mostly death. Uh, I mean a little despair, the last few seconds. But then a hard, sudden death.”
You can’t help laughing at moments like these, and there are many, even though it is supposed to be an adventure-thriller kind of film. Full marks to Jon Turteltaub, the director, for making a remarkably entertaining movie – action, drama, humour and a dab of romance in just enough doses to make them all eminently watchable in the same narrative.
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is one of those films you really wouldn’t mind watching sitting on the sofa at home with some popcorn. I originally watched it during the first weekend of its release in a theater in New York, and it was packed. It happened to the biggest grosser that weekend.
Published in iProng Magazine Issue 17, dated June 17th 2008
