Blu-Ray Review: National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets

As most films that have a “2” after their name, National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets feels like a bit of a let down. The first film seems a little more feasible compared to the extravagances taken on this one. It’s not terrible and does entertain, but it feels like a pale imitation when compared to National Treasure.

Ben (Nicholas Cage) and Patrick (John Voight) Gates are presenting a lecture on Thomas Gates being approached by John Wilkes Booth and another Confederate member of the Knights of the Golden Circle to decipher a code in a diary. Booth has an appointment with history at Ford’s Theater and leaves the other man to watch over Gates as he translates the pages.

When Gates realizes that the men are looking for treasure to fund the Confederacy he pulls the pertinent pages from the diary and throws them into the fire. He pays for this with his life and the other man only has time to snatch a charred bit of the diary out of the flames. The Gates finish their lecture, but at the end Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) stands up and produces the burnt page of the diary and it appears to implicate Thomas Gates as the mastermind behind the Lincoln assassination. Ben discovers a cipher on the back of the missing page and the hunt is on from more treasure and to clear Thomas’ good name. Things following the events of National Treasure have not been so happy. Ben and Abigail (Diane Kruger) have split up and Riley (Justin Bartha) wrote a book but finds the IRS hot on his trail. Our heroes have to break into Buckingham Palace to find a clue in the Resolute desk in the Queen’s study but the clue only leads them to the other desk in the Oval Office. Things don’t turn out well for Patrick either as the ancient clue needs translation and only his ex-wife (Helen Mirren) is the only person who can help them do it. When Ben and Abigail do get to the President’s desk they discover that the clue has been transferred to the President’s Book of Secrets. Now Ben has to kidnap the President (Bruce Greenwood) to find out the location of the book so that they can continue the quest. National Treasure was such a success that it’s no surprise that a sequel was put in the works. However, where the original seemed to make sense, in a popcorn movie way, this next part only feels like it was slapped together. The McGuffin of the plot is the ancient lost city of gold and this really seems like a stretch. The Freemasons and Templar Knight’s treasure seemed a bit more believable to me in comparison to Cibola, the lost city of gold. The other plot device is to make it imperative to make it seem like Thomas Gates was in on the Lincoln assassination. This little matter was never really resolved besides some last minute dialogue between Ben and Wilkinson. The President’s Book of Secrets also seemed like a concoction only brewed up to try and throw a little more history into the film.

It also allows them to clearly telegraph that a third sequel could be possible with the mysterious reference to a page 45 of the book. Box office takings almost guarantee that we’ll see Ben go after some other treasure someday. The film also suffers from some 2nd film plot elements that we’ve all seen before (characters who fell in love in one film are broken up in this one, a character finds himself in financial dire straits and has to go on adventure). I hope that a third film does away with the more ludicrous aspects (and they do seem more ludicrous than the first one) and tired plot elements. It’s still somewhat fun but nowhere near the first film. National Treasure 2 is presented 1080p anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Unlike the Blu-ray for National Treasure, all of the special features are presented in high definition. First up is a commentary by director John Turteltaub and John Voight. I have to pause here and mention that because of some playback issues with this title and others I went out and got a PS3. The “Book of History: Fact and Fiction of National Treasure 2” wouldn’t play on my old (well, not that old since I got it in December) profile 1.0 player. The “Book of History” is part trivia challenge game and trivia track. It has some featurettes about some historical figures as well as other facts that unfold as the film plays. However, you have to have the proper profiled player for any of this to work – caveat emptor. Next are 20 minutes of deleted scenes with introductions by Turteltaub. The Blu-ray features two more than any other editions. Next is a 5-minute blooper reel. The 6-minute “Secrets of a Sequel” chats with everyone about coming back for a part two. The 9 minute “Book of Secrets: On Location” talks about shooting in the international locations of this film. The 9-minute “Street Stunts” is about the big London street chase. The 8-minute “Inside the Library of Congress” is about shooting in the monumental depository. The 6-minute “Underground Action” goes into set design. The 4-minute “Cover Story” is about creating the Book of Secrets for the film. The 10-minute “Evolution of a Golden City” is about designing Cibola. The 2-minute “Knights of the Golden Circle” is about the mysterious Confederate organization. National Treasure 2 features a solid Blu-ray presentation, but I’m afraid that I can’t say the same for the movie that is on it. This one has some moments, but the first film was much better and this one has a slapdash feel to it. It stumbles as many sequels do.