When one of his ancestors is implicated as having been a co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben Gates (Nicolas Gates) sets out to restore the family name. He does so by jetting around the globe in search of clues that will lead him to the location of Cibola, the fabled City of Gold.

Along for the ride once again are his sidekick Riley (Justin Bartha), his estranged girlfriend Abigail (Diane Kruger), and his dad Patrick (Jon Voight). His mother Emily (Helen Mirren), a linguistics professor, is also dragged into the adventure, and following him every step of the way is Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), the man who leveled the charge against Ben’s great-great-grandfather in an attempt to plunder Cibola’s riches for himself.

CRITIQUE

If National Treasure offered too much of everything (and it did), this follow-up offers too too much of everything. Suffering from the mentality that a sequel should take what audiences enjoyed from the first outing and amplify it, Book of Secrets has too many characters, too much plot, and too many wisecracks. Audiences ate it up (it outgrossed its predecessor by 100 million dollars, assuring that producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub will cook up another one), but my reaction was a mixture of numbness and boredom.

The entire movie is too silly for its own good. The plot is unbelievably convoluted and ludicrous beyond belief, but that’s not what I mean. Whereas the first movie used Bartha’s character as its comic relief, practically every character here is given a comic edge. Instead of being characters in a pulpy adventure tale, they’re people who seem to know they’re characters in a pulpy adventure.

It’s okay to have one or two characters like that, but that’s the limit. And the vast majority of the supposedly witty banter they throw around lands with a thud. The only thing worse than Cage and Kruger’s constant junior high-level arguments is the sight of Voight and Mirren being reduced to being the “cute older couple.” (I had mistakenly assumed Mirren would add some spark to the movie; she does--for about two seconds. After that she’s stuck with what’s on the page, which isn’t much.)

Repetition is also a major problem here. The first movie confined itself to a handful of locations, while this one ratchets up the globetrotting. So now instead of the characters simply running around New England, they also make jaunts to London and Paris. Big deal. These trips are nothing more than changes of scenery that ultimately mean nothing; it’s still just find a clue, move on, find a clue, move on. And it’s all so low octane; Turteltaub still can’t get the pacing right.

Case in point, when the movie should be peaking, it instead comes to a screeching halt; the ending is once again an interminably overlong set piece, taking thirty minutes to unfold. I kid you not--the last thirty minutes seem almost as long as the first ninety. Movies such as thing shouldn’t give you a moment to think, either about how boring (of course, if they do actually move, it’s hard for them to be boring) or ridiculous they are (again, if they do their job right, being ridiculous doesn’t matter). This one affords plenty of opportunities for the mind to wander, and that’s not good.

I know this is supposed to be a family-friendly affair, but why did they have to make Harris’s character so damned toothless? Sean Bean wasn’t exactly menacing in the original, but he at least gave you the impression he’d pop a cap in you. Harris’s character isn’t as bad as he is misguided, and by the end he’s about as threatening as a newborn kitten.

Furthermore, I’m still not sure exactly what he hoped to accomplish by setting the whole plot in motion, nor am I sure why he didn’t just ask Cage to help him. What, did he think the famous treasure hunter wouldn’t want to go looking for treasure?

Although the movie contains an overabundance of booby traps, ciphers, hidden messages, secret passages, and hidden cities, the one thing I actually find impossible to accept is the idea of a single book that contains every dirty little secret in U.S. history. Can you actually imagine such a thing?

Better still, can you imagine the sitting president actually allowing an average citizen access to it? There’s no way, presidential okay or not, anyone who cracked this thing open wouldn’t eventually end up with a Feds-sanctioned a bullet in their skull. I’ll give the filmmakers the whole thing about why the Mount Rushmore project was really sanctioned, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

THE VIDEO

The 2.40:1/1080p transfer is on-par with that of the first movie. Colors--once again dominated by earth tones and burnished golds--are reproduced very well. There’s a consistently film-like, three-dimensional quality to the image, and the level of detail is high. The digital noise that was a minor nuisance in the first movie is nowhere to be found, but black levels here aren’t quite as strong as they should be (especially for a movie with so many dark interiors).

THE AUDIO

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio (a rarity for a Disney disc) performs its appointed task quite capably, but--much like the PCM track found on the BD release of the first movie--isn’t quite up to snuff with the best blockbuster tracks. Dialogue is always intelligible, exhibiting a natural quality throughout. Low end activity is deep and booming (a car chase and the climax provide plenty of bass action).

In a somewhat puzzling move, surround action in the climax is a bit subdued, with only a few discrete effects to indicate this is indeed a surround mix. (This was also true of the first movie’s sound mix, but it’s even more noticeable here.) English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also included. English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

The commentary with Jon Turteltaub and Jon Voight is dominated by Turteltaub, who once again favors technical talk over anything else. Voight, who seems to think his job is to sell the movie to people who’ve already purchased it, doesn’t contribute much. (At least Bartha is nowhere to be found.)

Seven deleted scenes (21 minutes total), two of which are exclusive to this Blu-ray disc, are also included. Turteltaub introduces each and explains why they were cut (primarily for pacing).

The Treasure Reel (5 minutes) is a run-of-the-mill blooper/gag reel.

The following eight featurettes essentially constitute one long making-of doc:

Secrets of a Sequel (7 minutes) explores the origins of the project.

The Book of Secrets: On Location (10 minutes) looks at the movie’s location work and offers interviews with the main cast.

Street Stunts: Creating the London Chase (10 minutes) breaks down the planning and execution of the movie’s big chase scene.

Inside the Library of Congress (9 minutes) covers the creation of the set used to replicate the famous location.

Underground Action (7 minutes) looks at the creation of the sets employed during the movie’s climax.

Cover Story: Crafting the President’s Book (5 minutes) covers the creation of the movie’s McGuffin.

Evolution of a Golden City (10 minutes) looks at the creation of the Cibola set and explores how the legend was changed to suit the needs of the plot.

Knights of the Golden Circle (3 minutes) offers some (highly suspicious) historical background on the infamous organization (which receives only passing mention in the movie). 

Book of History: Fact and Fiction of National Treasure: Book of Secrets is a combination history lesson/interactive game. Selecting this feature will initiate a series of branching video clips that provide factual information regarding some of the objects and organizations that play a role in the movie’s plot. You’ll then have to answer questions regarding the fact vs. fiction content of the movie; at the end your score will be tallied. Like so many of these interactive games, this one quickly grows tiresome.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m glad I saw National Treasure, even if I have no desire to see it again anytime soon. National Treasure 2, on the other hand, I gladly could have gone my whole life without seeing.