National Treasure: Book Of Secrets (9/10)
posted in Movie Reviews |
This sequel effortlessly recaptures the goofy magic of the first film. I’m a bit of a sucker for these kinds of adventure films, of which the National Treasure films are nice modern entries (along side others like the fun Sahara).
Writing: The goal of writing one of these films is not just the labyrinthine plotting but energy and character interaction. Like the first film, the plotting is ambitious and clever enough to work. Sure, it strains believability, but that’s OK. There no problem with the energy of the story, as it bounces along with its exuberant drive. Then there’s the light and charming character interactions, which feel natural and fun.
Production: Plenty of excellent production quality to be found here. From the well staged traditional action scenes to the very cool set pieces, this is a well made movie. There’s one scene in particular that I quite liked, with 4 of the main cast stuck atop a giant spire, on a big stone square delicately balanced on a point in the middle. There’s some fun logistical staging for that sequence. Visual effects work is fairly sparse, favoring more traditional set and stunt work. Cinematography and sound do an excellent job. And editing is particularly good, keeping thing moving along to the point where the movie certainly doesn’t feel as long as it’s 2+ hour run time. Director Jon Turteltaub has recently been making the TV series Jericho, which also features some nice production quality and a preference for physically staged sequences as opposed to big effects sequences.
Cast: The main cast reprise their roles perfectly, able to slip into them effortlessly. Nic Cage is his typically fun and goofy self, ably pulling off all the historical jargon and obsession with puzzles. Justin Bartha is again great fun as his sidekick. He gets a nice hook for this sequel, as the nameless assistant that nobody takes seriously. Diane Kruger again plays off Cage nicely as the romantic lead. Though I had a bit of a problem buying the “seperation” between the character that happened between the first film and this. Still, it causes some fun tension so I guess I can figure out why they decided to add that to the story. But they better not go back to that well for the next film, of which I’m sure will happen thanks to their fun way of working in a setup for the next film (btw, any of you fellow Alias fans out there wondering about the “page 47″ usage?). Jon Voight reprises his role as the father, and as a bigger part of the story this time. Added to the mix is no-less-than Helen Mirren as his estranged wife. Then there’s the great addition of Ed Harris to the cast. While his character might have been the most uneven in the writing, Harris manages to make it work. And I can’t believe somebody talked him into a big action sequence under water dump tanks again. After surviving The Abyss, anyone who goes back into the water for a production gets bonus points. Harvey Keitel returns as the now-friendly FBI agent. And as an amusing bit of casting, Bruce Greenwood gets to play the president again (he’s done it before as JFK in Thirteen Days). Greenwood is always great, no matter what, and this is no exception. Director Jon Turteltaub brought over one of his main cast members, Alicia Coppola (no relation to the famous Coppola family), from Jericho for a small role as one of the FBI agents.
Music: Like the first film’s score, I have mixed feelings about Trevor Rabin’s music score to this film. I like his main theme and some of the more adventurous cues, but his action material leaves a heck of a lot to be desired. It falls apart quite a bit when I stop to think of what many of the other talented composers out there could have done with the scores to these films. If you gave them to Bruce Broughton, Joel McNeely, Alan Silvestri, Marco Beltrami, Christophe Beck or a host of other choices, you have an extremely fun adventure score. Still, there’s some nice cues in this score. I do like it a bit better than his score to the first film.
