How exactly did it get to be December already!? But at least my computer is working again - yay! :)
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How exactly did it get to be December already!? But at least my computer is working again - yay! :)
Member since:01.08.2001
Reviews:112
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There are three types of sequel in the world, it seems to me: those rare few that improve upon the original; those that are pretty much just the original all over; and the sad majority that take a successful movie and try to make it BIGGER! BETTER! FASTER!... and largely just serve to magnify all the flaws of the first outing. National Treasure: Book of Secrets manages to fall wholeheartedly into the final category. Dang!
If you've seen the original NT movie then you know completely what to expect here: history buff Ben Gates (did he have a real job before becoming a treasure hunter? I can't recall!) stumbles across some fantastical secret, and is soon jetting around the world, defiling national 'treasures', and just being a bit of a brainiac Indiana Jones wannabe. Silly silly silly, but heck - it was fairly fun! In the first instalment, treasure clues had been left on the $1 bill, the back of the American Constitution, etc etc - so yes, some famous and well-guarded 'treasures' for Gates (Nic Cage) and his sidekicks Riley and Abigail to track down.
Roll forward to the follow up, and the first half of this film played into every terrible sequel cliche going. First, you can't leave the characters with their successes from the end of the first
movie - otherwise, why would they bother with round 2? Well, perhaps in many circumstances, but with this group of boffins I'm sure they would have stepped up to the challenge for its own sake. Nope, let's not risk it: Ben and Abigail have now split up, Riley's been done for tax evasion, and worse - the Gates family name has been dragged through the mud, and Civil War 'hero', great-grandfather Gates, is set up as a traitor.
So far, so yawn. Still, can't have that, so roll on sequel cliches 3-5: exotic locations in the first part?! Heck, we need MORE and we need them further away!! Action in the original? More! Faster!! Brain-bending clues solved by our brilliant heroes? They must be infinitely more obscure and yet still solved with fast-talking, mind-boggling infinite wisdom of good guy!!
I'm not sure that paragraph quite captures the dire mistakes rolled out for your viewing 'pleasure' here, but my suspension of disbelief couldn't get a look in between the eye-rolling and the cringing. Cranking up the pace just takes the far-fetched into the realms of the ridiculous, as the audience isn't really given time to *hear* the 'clues' before the gang have them solved and have jetted off to Paris, for the most unlikely (I know, I know - but even in context, unlikely!) round of word-association to solve the next clue. Given the importance of this moment to the 'plot' (more eye-rolling), it's over before you can blink.
Anyway. It doesn't end there, as the "ramp it UP!" ethos on display means that the theft of the Constitution in the original is replaced with - get this - breaking into Buckingham Palace and the Queen's private study. How? Oh, with a fake staging of the most fake of British stereotypical impressions. It... really defies belief, watching that on screen. I mean, it's meant to be bad and insulting, and yet, it goes so much further, into sheer pain. Imagine my relief when the rest of the UK scenes just involve completely mixing up London's geography in a high-speed car chase. *That* I can live with!!
I really find myself wondering how I managed to stay in my seat during the first 45 minutes or so - and I have *never* walked out of a film, ever! I think at least one part of the sequel-style probably worked: it was all going so fast from scene to scene that you just felt whirled up and trapped inside the tornado of "What were they *thinking*?!". Of course, they weren't, and you REALLY aren't supposed to!
Very VERY fortunately, the whole thing improves immeasurably in the second half (not that it was hard!), by slipping in sequel category number 2: carbon copy of the original. The manic pace lets up, tone goes from wtf to just silliness (breaking into the Oval Office, kidnapping the President), and we can slump in relief in our seats and just let the remainder wash past us! At this point, it is just a bit of Saturday afternoon fun, as the gang - ooh, complete with sequel cliche number... what was I up to?... urm, 6: bring in some new characters! Yes, Jon Voigt as Ben Gates' father is joined by Helen Mirren as his mom! HOW does a piece of trash like this draw in so many names? Add Ed Harris as the bad guy, and a returning Harvey Keitel as the police presence, and the pedigree completely overwhelms the structure. That said, some of the performances deserve a better framework, particular Helen Mirren - the moment where one revelation validates years of academic research reminded me of one reason why yes, actually, I did quite like the original film: like the vastly superior Indiana Jones, there is more than a whiff of geek about our cast of characters. In principle, I love the idea of intellect being the key to the adventure!
And eventually it is an adventure I did settle into: once we were back in the States, down to one or two locations and no more utterly outlandish clues, this was pure cheese of the brainlessly entertaining kind. The hunt has been for the fabled Lost City of Gold, you see, and the final set dressing of all the Aztec-ish (I know, wrong civilisation! But then, the film makers have shifted halfway across the continent, so that's alright, then!) bits and bobs made me smile. Which was really all I wanted out of this movie. The change from cerebral nonsense to physical - and possibly fatal - action is where this movie really comes into its own. Finally!
So... the first half gets a star because I can't go any lower. The second half gets a star on its own merit. And do I recommend the movie? Absolutely not!! It brings the right ingredients, but - well, let's say that if this was a meal, the first course would be trout and custard. That the dessert is a nice enough apple pie doesn't quite wash away the bad taste of the first half.
That said, I suspect in the comfort of your own livingroom the many flaws here will be easier to just laugh at, although it still disappoints in comparison to the original bit of fluff.
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Production Year: 1977 - Action/Adventure - Director: Clint Eastwood - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring:Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince, Bill McKinney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
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![National Treasure 2 - Book Of Secrets [DVD] [2007]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78631621.jpg "National Treasure 2 - Book Of Secrets [DVD] [2007]")
Aug 3rd, 2008
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