We went and saw “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” in Columbia this weekend, as Brooke and I both wanted to see it, and so did the rest of the family.
This one picks up awhile after the previous movie, and after briefly explaining what essentially transpired between the two films, this one jumps into the idea that the ancestor of Ben Gates (played by Nicholas Cage), Thomas Gates, was a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. As a result, Ben enlists his father (Jon Voigt), his friend, ex-girlfriend (or is she?) and mother (Helen Mirren) in tracking down the crucial evidence to return honor to the Gates family name.
Now, I thought the first one was surprisingly good, despite what reviewers had to say about it. The puzzles were pretty engaging, the chemistry between actors was convincing, and the story was surprisingly fun to follow. Personally, I don’t think this one was quite as good, but if you liked the first one, you’ll still like this one. The puzzles presented were a bit “too easy,” especially as compared with the previous one. While the original film seemed to focus a bit more on the search within our nation’s history for certain artifacts, with clues left in the craziest of places (i.e. the $1 bill, the Declaration of Independence, etc…), this one did the same…but with greater ease to allow for more interaction between the multitude of great actors (Ed Harris was the bad guy in this one, but Harvey Keitel was still around in a supporting role).
In short, the movie was good and worth seeing, especially if you liked the original. Personally, I would have liked to see more “history” (which, admittedly, is not quite accurate…) and a little less focus on the interaction between the main characters, but it was still fun with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and suspenseful sequences. It had significantly less depth than the previous iteration, but then again, if you want a fun time at the movies in the holiday season…does it really matter how much “depth” is there?
I loved it!! And thanks for taking ME to the movies for a change!! 😉
I was planning to skip this one, and from your review, it seems like the right choice. Did we really need another NT? Try Sweeney Todd!
Yeah, “Sweeney Todd” is next on the list (perhaps after “AVP:R”)…Brooke even wants to see it…”Todd”…not so much “AVP”…
sooo…apparently you didn’t figure out what’s up with those Christmas pics….. but then I realized that maybe you found a photoshop filter that makes pictures look the way YOU see them…ya know, all colorblind and stuff… If that’s true, I’m glad you didn’t go into graphic design, yo. 😛