National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

A couple years ago, National Treasure had me with the conspiracy theories, clues that lead to more clues, creepy and very brittle underground architecture, and lots of treasure...

The best way to describe the sequel is like this:

National Treasure=National Treasure 2

"Book of Secrets" features more conspiracies, more clues that lead to more clues, and even more brittle sub-ground architecture... taking care not to stray too much from the first "Treasure." Not to say none of it is original, as there are plenty of surprises and funny jokes yet unused. However, the movie doesn't take any steps forward from it's predescessor. In fact, since we left Ben, Abigail and Riley, they all seem to have taken several steps backward.

"Secrets" is pretty much the first movie told a bit differently, with a couple different characters. Yet as you watch, you may feel that it seems vaguely familiar, like you saw it last time you popped "Treasure 1" into your DVD player.

If you liked the first NT, you will probably find Book of Secrets entertaining, maybe even memorable...for me, however, I would have liked to see them vary a little more from that old formula that made the first movie what it was.

2xNational Treasure doesn't neccasarily = twice as good...

I preordered it, I saw it in the movies and thought it was pretty good. I also watched Full Circleand loved it! Lots of cool movies coming out! I guess with the strike and all.

I disagree with Amazon on this one. I thought this movie was just as engrossing as the first one and just as imformative!!!! I loved the location shoots in Paris & Mt. Rushmore. If you liked the first one you will love this one!!

Movie sequels tend to be cursed with high expectations and seeing as to how National Treasure was a roaring hit, the expectations on part 2 would be equally high, Although the plot as such was relatively well written, it was the acting and too many details left to the viewers imaginations that fell short on this movie.

After the civil war, The movies starts with Thomas Gates and his son in a pub, shortly prior to the Lincoln assassination when John W. Booth and another associate meet Thomas Gates inside an inn to help them resolve a cipher/ a code to gain entry to a city of gold for the KGC (a southern extremist group at that time dedicated to maintaining the confederacy), While Thomas Gates thwarts their attempt at trying to destroy the clue to the treasure, his name comes up in a diary that lists out all the people involved in the assassination and years later, at present day he (Thomas Gates) is also named among the conspirators to kill Lincoln.
Ben Gates now follows this to prove his ancestor's innocence and maintain that his ancestor is actually a hero.

While, the sequence of events keeps you interested, the good part they have adopted is the similar thought process they used in National Treasure 1, the different clues and how they go after each puzzle to resolve the same. The only strange part is for starters the roles played by Ed Harris and to an extent by Helen Mirren, which leaves little to be noted and does not give a deeper background into their characters and yes.... sigh, Riley is still trying to get laid..

Whilst owning it would be for die hard fans only, a rental is definitely worth it and good family fun.

Note: Contrary to some folks finding it absurd, i rather found Cage's british impersonation to be funny! (Scene at Buckingham)

On the movie: I am just not a big fan of this series so far. I am a history buff and was really wanting to enjoy this movie; like the first one, the same flaws remain in #2. Nicolas Cage is just bad casting. It is difficult to like him. However, the supporting cast is fantastic; Diane Kruger as his love interest Abigail and Justin Bartha as the sidekick are happily on board for this installment, as well as Jon Voigt as Ben Gates' (Cage) dad. Helen Mirren is a welcome addition to the cast as Ben's mom who still carries much bitterness for her ex (Voigt).
This time, the catalyst for the treasure hunt is the recent accusation that Ben's great-great-grandfather was part of the plot to murder President Lincoln. This leads to a search for the Presidential Book of Secrets which leads to trying to find the Lost City of Gold. This time the film goes international; London, Paris...but even with some exotic locales, the film just does not generate the excitement that it should.

Although this film attempts to pattern itself after Hitchcock (stated by Director Turteltaub himself on the commentary), it fails. There are many fantastic individual scenes that just don't gel together as a whole. Hitchcock was a master at elevating and dropping the audience with suspense and hot romance ("North by Northwest" is a classic example); not so here. Cage may be trying to channel Cary Grant (again as Turteltaub tells it) but he comes nowhere near close; and even though I truly like Diane Kruger, her chemistry with Cage is not like Grace Kelly & Grant of old. The leaps to clues and the thought processes behind them are just as hard to believe as before; you REALLY need to suspend disbelief to buy into this movie. Ed Harris as the villain is a poorly written character; selfish and rotten throughout, his last minute redemption is hard to believe.

Now to the DVD itself; picture/audio are fantastic (especially if you have a surround sound system). The extras are also excellent. Mercifully, Disney decided not to put all the hunt and peck methods that were on the National Treasure One DVD. This time, you just pop in Disc 2 and access whatever you want to see. Disc 1 has commentary by Voigt & Turteltaub. Even Voigt comments on the fact that most likely nobody else was available for the commentary; still, it is interesting to hear the behind-the-scenes stories. The deleted scenes were trimmed for the right reasons; a film that jumps around like this one needs tight editing, and the scenes shown here really don't add at all. One of my fave extras is "Inside the Library of Congress" which shows some of the rare collection there (photos of John Wilkes Booth and the men being hung for the Lincoln murder). "Cover Story: Crafting the President's Book" shows how the actual book was created for the movie and the attention to detail that makes it look authentic. "Knights of the Golden Circle" left me wanting much more; it is a very short featurette talking about the real-life group of people who wanted to keep slavery going and annex Mexico; their need for gold/money thwarted their efforts. "Evolution of a Golden City": this one will surprise you for two reasons: to see just how much was actually built as a set, and then to see what was created by CGI (the ability to create objects that appear to be handled by actors shows just how far this technology has come). "Treasure Reel: Bloopers & Outtakes" is the usual assortment of guffaws that show errors and cast camaraderie. "The Book of Secrets: On Location" is a wonderful travelogue of all the different locations, describing what was actually shot on location and what was CGI. Turteltaub/Bruckehimer definitely pushed the limits of trying to use the real spots, often thwarted by regulations, especially in DC at the White House (snipers on the roof of the White House?!? ouch!). Very interesting to watch the "rehearsals" of the chase sequence in the "Street Stunts" featurette. "Underground Action" shows the behind-the scenes for the City of Gold and the Balancing Platform, achieved through the use of a gimbal. "Secrets Of A Sequel" talks about the thought process behind coming up with this installment and the importance of reuniting the original cast and crew. Overall on these extras, there is much talking about how the ending and much of the script was made up along the way. This really comes as no surprise, and confirms for me that had there been more planning, a cohesive resulting plot would have made a much better film. Easter Eggs: Including a conversation about Beverly Hills High School with fellow alums Nic Cage and Jo Turteltaub, and a look at the White House lawn scene as filmed in front of a blue screen .

So-so film that is watchable; just a real bummer that some more story planning wasn't done ahead of time. The DVD itself is excellent and a marked improvement over the first.

NOTE: Although many reviewers have referred to the Goofy cartoon that was shown in the theaters, it is not on this DVD, unless there is some extra-hidden Easter Egg. Always a danger in reviewing a DVD BEFORE you see the actual DVD. Sorry folks, you'll have to find Goofy somewhere else!