Just because National Treasure: Book of Secrets isn’t that great of a film doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see it.  It’s not a classic and I don’t know if I would even classify it as art; but it’s all sorts of fun in a season full of pretentious movies without any thrills.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
3 Stars

Man, there are all sorts of conspiracy theories in this country.  I knew that.  What I didn’t know, until I saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets that is, is that apparently, they’re all a part of one giganto collective super conspiracy woven throughout all time, and conveniently packaged for edutainment (of course it’s a word!).  Okay, maybe not every claim in the movie, such as the real-life whereabouts   of the El Dorado, is based in fact; but the solid planting of fact throughout the film is what makes this movie so much fun – the idea that history can be just as exciting as Transformers, and anyone can be thrilled by the experience.

After discovering the founding father’s treasure in part one of the series, part two picks up with Nicolas Cage‘s character Ben Gates’, and that character’s father’s (Jon Voight), name being tarnished by that asshole Ed Harris.  By bogusly interpreting some historical evidence, his character hopes to trick Gates into finding – wait for it – a NATIONAL TREASURE.  And thus sets off the wild goose hunt that is another National Treasure flick.

Though it’s far off from the Best Of the Year lists that have started flooding the internets, it’s also a good distance off from being a bad movie.  The historical aspect of the film is a more than amusing- the mixture of fact and fiction is sweet to the taste, and the characters’ love of history is somehow charming.  The actors are having a good time, like Voight, Cage or the stereotypical sidekick character played by Justin Bartha.  The character could just as easily been played as that annoying tech geek that no one actually likes that shows up in most action movies; but Bartha nails every one of his wisecracks, and is perfectly charming.  The movie is just thrilling enough until the final act, when you’ll look down and realize the tension on the screen has you wringing your fingers, in giddy apprehension of the fate of the good guys.  Director Jon Turteltaub, a veteran of the first film, clearly knows what he’s doing here, and he’s not trying to do anything more than he has to.  From start to finish, he makes this a simple, family thriller whose only aim is to be fun, and maybe a little cool.  There’s no subtext (aside from a couple of off-handed remarks on the state of affairs in our State today,) and it’s not trying to change your mind either.  It’s just a fun time.

But don’t get too excited – there are some definite flaws.  The pacing is fast, to ensure that not even the youngest of audience members’ minds begin to wander onto any other pertinent topics like Santa, video games or how gross girls are.  Maybe that pace is a good thing for the second-graders out there, but it means the movie feels rushed to anyone with a mature attention span; and, for a movie that relies on facts that few know off the top of their head, it can be difficult to follow the story and the logic of the characters.

Men like Turteltaub deserve some credit.  Their movies aren’t going to win any awards; but their not in it for the recognition.  They’re not trying to revolutionize the medium of movies, they just want to give people a great way to waste two hours.  Well, Mr. Turteltaub, for what it’s worth, I was glad to let you waste my time.