Dir. Jon Turtletsub
Writ. The Wibberleys
Act. Nicholas Cage, Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight

The sequel to the incredibly fun 2004 National Treasure is not as fun as the first. It is not a bad film and it does keep me involved from beginning to end, but the film is lacking in excitement. The plot lacks the depth that the first film had and the characters were a little thin in terms of motivation. I also thought the treasure itself was uninteresting compared to the first film. However, it is still well made and enjoyable and it has the unfortunate curse of being the sequel to a far superior film.

Treasure hunter Benjamin Gates, played by Nicolas Cage (Next,) is trying to solve the conspiracy behind President Lincoln's assassination to clear his great grandfather's name. In order to prove his relatives innocence, Gates must find the lost Indian city of gold and to do that he must look into the fabled US Presidents Book of Secrets. In order to do that, Gates must kidnap the President of the United States.

I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt in the film, even if it was something that I wasn't that interested in. Watching Nicolas Cage's character put the puzzle pieces together was enjoyable in this film as much as it was in the first film, even if the pieces were from a 50 piece puzzle as opposed to a 1000 piece puzzle. The banter between the characters was also enjoyable, even if it wasn't as quick and as funny as the first film. Overall, the journey was fun, but much better the first time.

I did not understand why the director and the writers split Nicholas Cage's character and Kruger's character apart. It was an attempt to create conflict that wasn't necessarily needed. They could have gone a different route and shown them fighting as they were living together, it would have allowed for much more situational comedy. Plus, I really didn't understand why they were fighting. They tried to show the conflict but I didn't think it was believable.

Also, the treasure was anti-climatic. I just didn't care about the lost city of gold. Maybe its because the original treasure was so large and encompassed so many civilizations that this treasure seemed small in comparison. It just wasn't as exciting for me. Also, the chase was simple, even though it required them to go to Europe, the pieces were right there in front of them. The whole "iron pen" clue in the first movie was much more involved and original, that had some kind of logical reasoning, then anything in the second movie.

I will tell people to see this film at the theater, but mostly because it still is a fun film. But I can't imagine anyone thinking that this film is better than the first one. I also can't imagine a third one being made either.

Brian - the Naked Gun