National Treasure: Book of Secrets

A slight improvement over its agreeable forebearer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets follows Nicolas Cage’s Ben Gates as he attempts to clear his family’s name after his great-great-grandfather is accused of orchestrating Lincoln’s assassination – an endeavor that reteams Gates with sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), love interest Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), and father Patrick Gates (Jon Voight). Screenwriters Marianne and Cormac Wibberley have infused National Treasure: Book of Secrets with a larger-than-life sensibility that’s reflected in Jon Turteltaub’s exceedingly slick directorial choices, as the film is rife with precisely the kind of elements that one has come to expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer production (eg outlandish action set-pieces, a steady undercurrent of comic relief, etc). As anticipated, there’s admittedly a slight degree of repetition to the movie’s propulsive storyline – Gates and his cohorts discover a clue, travel to some exotic locale, encounter resistance, and finally uncover another clue – yet, thanks to the preponderance of increasingly over-the-top destinations (eg from the Oval Office to the Library of Congress to Mount Rushmore), this never becomes quite as problematic as one might’ve feared. Cage’s undeniably charismatic work is matched by the surprisingly adept supporting cast (which includes – among others – Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, and Helen Mirren), and it does seem clear that it’s his energetic and downright enthusiastic performance that holds the viewer’s interest even through a few less-than-enthralling sequences. And although the film does suffer from a climax that’s just a little too similar to that of its predecessor’s (ie all the characters converge on a dark, booby-trap laden cavern), National Treasure: Book of Secrets effortlessly establishes (and sustains) the kind of fun and ludicrously broad atmosphere that should’ve been present within Ron Howard’s adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.

**1/2 out of ****