National Treasure: Book of Secrets

As funny as 'Walk Hard,' but not on purpose

By Matt Pais

Metromix
December 21, 2007

 
Critic's Rating:
2

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha and Nicolas Cage (Credit: Disney)
Photos:
A scene from the film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." A scene from the film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." A scene from the film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." A scene from the film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Running time:
130 minutes
Rated:
PG
Cast:
Nicolas Cage -
Ben Gates
Jon Voight -
Patrick Gates
Harvey Keitel -
Sadusky
Ed Harris -
Jeb Wilkinson
Diane Kruger -
Abigail Chase
See full cast
Director:
Jon Turteltaub
Genre:
Action, Adventure
Official Movie Web Site:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/nationaltreasure/
Movie Trailer:
View Trailer
Overall User Rating:
4 (14 ratings)
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A random creep (Ed Harris) claims that Ben Gates' (Nicolas Cage) great-great-grandfather organized the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, an accusation Gates deals with the only way he knows how: treasure hunt! With the help of his on-the-outs significant other (Diane Kruger) and sarcastic sidekick (Justin Bartha, who has a comment for everything), Gates searches for the presidents' alleged "book of secrets" and the mythical "City of Gold," discoveries that, according to the movie's hilariously convoluted reasoning, will clear his ancestor's name, stand as a landmark achievement in American history and atone for Gates' casual crimes like sneaking into the Oval Office and later kidnapping the president (Bruce Greenwood). 

Big question: Even if "Book of Secrets" is as silly as the original "National Treasure"—in which a treasure map was found on the back of the Declaration of Independence—can it at least be as goofily entertaining? 

Skip it: What once felt like fun, harmless adventure—kinda like riding Big Thunder Mountain at Disney World—now may actually slow your pulse down, except for unintentionally hysterical stuff like Gates deciphering in seconds that a desk is actually a huge combination lock with a clue inside. If someone read this script out loud on a street corner, they'd be arrested immediately—not for being a conspiracy theorist, just for the improper distribution of garbage. 

Catch it: If you're happy to let the movie provide you with all the answers, no matter how obvious they might be. Even when there's a direct shot of a large sign that reads "J.Edgar Hoover FBI Building," the movie still provides text onscreen identifying that it is, in fact, the J.Edgar Hoover FBI Building. Thanks for solving that mystery! 

Bottom line: Like an episode of "The Real World," everything that happens is totally bonkers, but you're able to watch casually, cracking up at fools taking their own spewing nonsense seriously. But among lots of absurd explanations it's impossible to care about the search for answers to stupid questions, and maybe "Book of Secrets" might stumble onto something resembling treasure if its mental map weren't so mixed up.  

Bonus: The one thing in the movie that we understand is Gates' dad (Jon Voight) asserting that once a piece of information is on the Internet, "there's no stopping it now." It's also what the cast of "High School Musical" now calls, "the Vanessa Hudgens rule."

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