'NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS'
Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) had similar adventures in "National Treasure" and again in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," out this week (Walt Disney, 2 stars).
It just seems like fun. All these primitive, yet incredibly sophisticated, traps that managed to always skewer an unsuspecting conquistador or pirate. I mean, every cave seems to have its own complement of nattily dressed skeletons from another era. Always a good source of movie humor, these skeletons.
"Book of Secrets" is both entertaining and annoyingly unambitious. Sure, in the last one Ben stole the Declaration of Independence and in this one he kidnaps the president of the United States. That's a step up.
But I'm getting ahead of the story.
In "Book of Secrets," Ben and his father Patrick (Jon Voight) learn that an ancestor who supposedly gave his life to prevent a vast treasure from falling into the hands of the evil, secret Knights of the Golden Circle - a Southern Confederacy movement - might not have been the hero they imagined.
In fact, the ancestor may have led the plot to kill President Abraham Lincoln, stolen the vast treasure and tried to ensure the resurrection and secession of the Confederacy - or so says bad guy Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris).
To clear this ancestor's now-besmirched name - on the flimsiest of evidence, I must note - Ben has one recourse: Find the vast treasure! Why this clears his name I have no idea, but Ben strikes me as the sort of guy who uses "find the vast treasure" as a solution for many of his personal problems.
Speaking of personal problems, Ben and his brainy babe, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), have separated - something about him being difficult to live with. (This is Nicolas Cage, for crying out loud.) Also his sidekick, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) - whose main job is to be a first-class klutz until Ben needs his help - is broke and in deep doo-doo with the IRS.
Maybe they all need to hunt for a vast treasure to take their minds off life's mundane minutiae. So that's what they do - hunt for treasure, thanks to incredibly implausible clues, the meaning of which seem to come almost instantly to Ben.
As quickly as you can eat a couple of handfuls of popcorn, Ben, Riley and Abigail have trekked to Paris, Buckingham Palace, the White House and a nearby university where Ben's mom, the imperious professor Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren), helps them translate ancient runes while squabbling with her ex-husband, Patrick.
Ben does kidnap the president (Bruce Greenwood), who happily gives him access to a book handed down from president to president and filled with national secrets - like who killed JFK, the truth about Area 51 and the real reason why we invaded Iraq. Naturally it contains a clue for Ben.
The bad guy, Wilkinson, is hot on their heels and seems quite willing to kill them in order to solve this puzzle.
In the end, Ben and Abigail face danger boldly, solve puzzles and defeat the bad guys - while still finding time to discover a vast treasure. Oh, and they rekindle the love they misplaced some time after the original movie debuted in 2004.
Nice work if you can get it.
"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" doesn't come to a conclusion so much as it runs out of puzzles to solve and things to do. Even the bad guy turns out to be relatively nice.
The two-disc collector's edition contains one disc filled with material explaining how stunts are pulled, sets are constructed and props are concocted.
ALSO THIS WEEK
"Strange Wilderness" (Paramount, 2 stars) Get lost.
"Diary of the Dead" (Genius, 1 star) In this film-within-a-film (sign of a genre overstaying its welcome), young film students shooting a horror movie on the cheap run into real zombies. They tell their story through the collected images from camcorders, cell phone video, security cameras and TV news footage. The movie includes voice-over narrative from a hip-horror hall of fame that includes Wes Craven, Simon Pegg, Guillermo del Toro, Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino. The whole thing is by George A. Romero, and if the name means anything to you, you'll love the film for his name alone. Have at it. For you, my friend, also available this week is Romero's original zombie movie: "Night of the Living Dead 40th Anniversary Edition."
IT CAME FROM TV
Available this week: The sixth season of "JAG" and the fourth season of "Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C."
Also: The third season of "The Muppet Show"; the first season of lesbian dramedy "Exes & Oh's"; the complete series for the 1980s high school comedy "Square Pegs"; and the first season of "The Bill Engvall Show."
A three-disc set from BBC celebrates some extraordinary performances from extraordinary actress Maggie Smith. Not surprisingly called "Maggie Smith at the BBC," the box includes four titles from 1972 to 1993: "The Merchant of Venice," "The Millionairess," "Bed Among the Lentils" and "Suddenly Last Summer."
A chance to turn back the clock, as 20th Century Fox offers the original 2001 season of the Keifer Sutherland action-thriller "24."DVD RATINGS
4 stars: Don't miss: rent it/buy it
3 stars: Worth the risk: rent it
2 stars: On the tipping point: if nothing else is available
1 star: Don't bother: wait until it's in the $1 bin
© Copley News Service
Comments (0)
Greater Paramus News and Lifestyle Magazine
http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20080518192825951