Call me a sucker for partially-factual action movies, but I enjoyed the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
I don't like reading reviews prior to seeing a movie, but I was so excited about this sequel that I broke down. What I read was less than flattering. Alas, I saw it anyway, and what I found was a film that was just as entertaining as the original. Possibly even more so.
Granted Nicolas Cage is beginning to look a lot like the fictional TV character "Cryptkeeper", but he does a great job as usual, making you question reality. The movie is nearly a re-write of the 2004 hit, National Treasure, with even more baloney to swallow.
After discovering that his great-great grandfather might have been involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is determined to clear his name.
The same cast of characters, plus Ben's mother (Helen Mirren) heads out on another adventure to Find the City of Gold. Along the way, they break into the Queen of England's private study, the Oval Office, and they even have to kidnap the President of the United States. Far-fetched...okay, but it is a movie, right?
Like the original, this film is packed with enough facts to appear somewhat plausible (I got this word from watching Mythbusters!). From the Resolute Desks, hidden tunnels, a secret presidential book and amazing discoveries in Mount Rushmore, there's lots to swallow in National Treasure: Book of Secrets... to say the very least! But I liked it.
If you go to this film expecting a history lesson, you'll probably be very disappointed. But if you take the movie for what it's worth and I think you'll enjoy it. There's lots of action, suspense, hanging from broken ladders, secret compartments, romance, greed, puzzle-solving, car chases, and impossible coincidences to entertain most people.
What will part three be named? How about National Treasure: Load of Baloney? Or National Treasure: How far Can We Distort the Truth?
I am not sure where the inevitable part three film will take us, and I'll be there for that one as well!
My rating: 2.5 Stars
