National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

First of all, let me say that I really like the first movie: National Treasure (yes, to all of you oblivious people out there, there's a prequel to this movie) since I'm always been a big fan of Ancient History and Lost Civilization. So I did approach this movie with high anticipation, forgetting about the endless list of sequels that failed to compete with the original. And the pattern proven to be right again. It's like drinking a soda after it's been sitting out too long. It's flat. All the fizz, the sparkle is gone. Don't get me wrong, the movie is entertaining overall, but I just feel that there's something missing from this movie. It seems like the clues were too simple to solve, and some of the scenes were rushed. Especially towards the ending, where the clues were given out to open. I dunno, maybe I really miss the good old days where the crew would try to find and solve the complex puzzles by themselves.

Anyway, as I have mentioned before, this movie is entertaining. The movie repeats the same formula as the original crew follows a string of clues and puzzles which require some mathematical and scientific thought. The elments of the original movie are still there: the discovery of secret documents and artifacts, deciphering codes from monuments and arcane objects, some from various parts of the world, sneaking into the highest-security areas of the Western World, etc.

The casts are great and the characters are still likeable. Nicholas Cage has the right balance of smart ass and hero that works well. Rilley (one of the best sidekick and one of the reasons I watch the movie) provides comedy relief to the movie along with his smart-alec remarks, brilliant one-liners, and dumb comments. Ed Haris plays the part well as the villain. Ben's father ( Jon Voight) is very convincing, funny and endearing. Ben's mom (Helen Mirren) is a snappy yet lovely character. They both delivers classic and amazing scenes together. The action is superb. Some of it is worthy to be included in Bourne's movie (such as the car chase in London and the scenes from Mount Rushmore). It is played with humour and sarcasm that made it fun and enjoyable to watch.

At the end of the day, although I can remember some of the down sides of the movie, fun is fun. And I can easily forget all of that because the movie is still very enjoyable, thrilling and full of suspenses. With some great laughs and some really fascinating connections from history, you may actually learn something on the journey (3 Liberty Statues? Really?). So, if you want a quirky, ridiculous, treasure-seeking fun that picks up right where the last left off, this is your ticket. But, if you are looking for a sequel that can match the first movie, don't get your hopes too high.