Tuesday, January 1, 2008

“NATIONAL TREASURE 2 : BOOK OF SECRETS”

(Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Jon Voigt, Ed Harris, Comic Relief Guy & I’m Sure She’d Rather Not Be Mentioned But She Signed The Contract So She’s Stuck For Life With Being In The Credits – Helen Mirren)

If you loved “National Treasure 1 : The Hunt For Red Octoberfest” – Well then, you’ve already seen “NT2”What’s really sad is that Ed Harris turned in a fantastic performance in “Gone Baby Gone” & a relatively lame one here (Blame the script more than the actor) & yet thousands of more movie goers will see him in this sequel that I would have thought no one wanted (But according to the box office receipts – the sheep want duplicity)My wife picked this because she wanted to know what was in the ‘Book of Secrets’ – I didn’t protest because Diane Kruger has gorgeous blue eyes. My wife found out what the book of secrets contained & I still think Diane Kruger has gorgeous blue eyes...

So you think we’d be satisfied, yet neither of us felt as though we got our money’s worth.The plot involves Nicolas Cage’s great great great grandfather Thomas Gates being named as the mastermind being the Lincoln assassination after bad guy Ed Harris produces a charred corner of paper authenticated as being from the John Wilkes Booth diary. This leads to trips to France & England & back to the White House where Nicolas & his co-horts manage their way into the queen’s private chambers at Buckingham Palace & the Oval Office in D.C. following one obscure clue after another, which Nic figures out one either the first or second guess.

When it becomes clear they will need to see the infamous ‘for president’s eyes only’ Book of Secrets, Nicolas comes to the conclusion that the only way they’ll get to the book is to kidnap the President of the United States. This is accomplished, of course, with relative ease & of course, the Commander In Chief is more than happy to tell Nicolas where the book is & what page he needs to read.Did I say “Walk Hard” was silly?Jon Voigt returns as Cage’s dad & Helen Mirren steps in to play his mom & they both should spend the rest of their lives wincing every time ‘National Treasure 2 : Book Of Secrets’ appears among their acting ‘credits’.

No comments: