Another Hollywood sequel,
but ‘Treasure’ is all right

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

The year of the sequel is nearing an end. As if Hollywood didn’t put out enough sequels during the summer, it managed to save one for the holiday season — National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
I’m one of those people who don’t quite get the appeal of National Treasure. It’s entertaining while you’re watching it, but it’s extremely forgettable just a few hours later.
Three years ago, the first National Treasure movie grossed $347.5 million worldwide, so it’s understandable why the creators forged ahead with a sequel. What’s nice is that director Jon Turteltaub and all the main actors returned for the sequel, including Nicolas Cage, who previously stated he was not a big fan of doing sequels.
The plot of Book of Secrets is equally as implausible as the first National Treasure, in which Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) thought the Declaration of Independence contained some kind of secret treasure map that would lead to gold.
This time around, Ben and his cohorts are gallivanting to Paris, London, Washington, D.C., and Mount Rushmore in search of a City of Gold and to help clear the name of one of Ben’s ancestors who recently has been accused as a co-conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Ben is joined by friend and tech expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), his estranged girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), and his divorced parents Patrick and Emily (Jon Voight and Helen Mirren).
The change of settings makes the film feel fast-paced as the ensemble discovers clues with the greatest of ease. No locale seems to be off-limits to help Ben find his treasure. A clue in the queen’s study in Buckingham Palace — that’s no big deal. Another clue in the Oval Office of the White House — that’s also not a problem.
The president of the United States knows the location of the Book of Secrets, which holds another clue in the "mystery." The solution: sneak into the prez’s birthday party and kidnap him.
Even though Ben can put all the clues together with only a minute or two of thought, there is something or someone, I should say, standing in his way. The movie’s obligatory bad guy, Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), also has an interest in finding the treasure. He has no problem making threats and using force to get what he wants.
Aside from a tense car-chase scene (producer Jerry Bruckheimer has a knack for those), the action sequences aren’t all that impressive. I never feared for the lives of any of the main characters.
Helen Mirren is a surprising yet wonderful addition to the cast. She plays a crucial role as Ben’s mother and a linguist who conveniently can translate the ancient language of one of the clues.
Critics of National Treasure tend to have a problem with the way the film messes with history, similar to the way Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code had people confused about what is fact and what is fiction.
The inspiration for National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth’s diary (which is fact). My advice is don’t go into this film looking for a history lesson and it’ll be much easier to accept — and maybe even enjoy — the absurdity of it all. ••
Movie Grade: B