National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (Two-Disc Collectors Edition) DVD Review

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 05.21.2008

A Virtual Treasure of its Own

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub
Written by: Marianne Wibberley and Cormac Wibberley

Starring:
Nicolas Cage - Benjamin Franklin Gates
Justin Bartha - Riley Poole
Diane Kruger - Abigail Chase
Jon Voight - Patrick Gates
Helen Mirren - Emily Appleton
Ed Harris - Mitch Wilkinson
Harvey Keitel - FBI Agent Peter Sadusky
Bruce Greenwood - US President

Domestic Gross: $219,773,498
Worldwide Gross: $457,132,022

DVD Release Date: 5/20/2008
Running Time: 124 minutes



Rated PG for some violence and action

November of 2004 was a fairly busy time at the movies. All the talk was about the battle of CGI; DreamWorks’s A Shark Tale had just finished a successful run, and Pixar had The Incredibles tearing up the box office against Warner Brothers’ The Polar Express. Even SpongeBob Squarepants was getting in on the action with a 3,200 screen release of his own animated film. Amidst all of these superheroes, talking sharks, underwater kitchen implements and fantastical trains, Disney put out a film that got a little attention, but few expected anything from. Passed off at the time as little more then a poor man’s DaVinci Code, National Treasure not only opened well above box office expectations by pulling in $35.3 million in it’s opening weekend, but held up unbelievably well, ending with $347 million worldwide. Taking the idea of DaVinci but favoring a more action-oriented feel over the Tom Hanks-starrer’s cerebral and religious overtones, it struck a nerve with audiences. It was no surprise, then, that National Treasure: Book of Secrets was fast-tracked into production. Bringing back original stars Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Harvey Keitel and Jon Voight, Book of Secrets managed to stay #1 at the box office for three weeks by dethroning I Am Legend and then holding off several contenders, including the inexplicably successful Alvin and the Chipmunks. With a $457 million worldwide gross, there’s no surprise that it’s gotten Disney’s 2-Disc Collector’s Edition treatment on DVD, or that a third National Treasure is in the works.

The Movie

Following the events of National Treasure and the discovery of the Templar treasure, Benjamin Gates (Cage) has brought legitimacy to his family lineage, who were previously thought of in the academic community as crackpots. However, while presenting with his father Patrick (Voight) at a ceremony regarding their ancestor Thomas Gates’s death in service to his country at the end of the Civil War, Mitch Wilkinson (Harris) comes forward with a portion of one of eighteen missing pages from the diary of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. The page implicates Thomas Gates as not only involved in the assassination, but the mastermind behind it. The evidence seems incontrovertible; however, Patrick and Ben are not convinced, and set out on a path to clear their family's name. They enlist the help of Ben’s partner in the first film, Riley Poole (Bartha), who has been unable to capitalize on his success and even has lost everything through shady accounting practices. Soon after, Ben’s ex-girlfriend Abigail (Kruger) is brought into the action, as well as Ben’s mother (and Patrick’s ex-wife), pre-Columbian history professor Emily. The quest soon becomes another treasure hunt, with the crew going to Paris, London, Washington D.C., Mount Vernon, and the Black Hills of South Dakota—the site of historic Mount Rushmore. Right behind them, of course, is not only Wilkinson and his crew, but FBI agent Peter Sadusky (Keitel) after Ben does something…well, highly illegal. Again.

The events of National Treasure: Book of Secrets are highly implausible; I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. Ben, Riley and Abigail, with Patrick and eventually Emily in tow, break into places that no one would ever be able to break into, and do things that are pretty much impossible. If one can set aside that fact and suspend their disbelief, however, Book of Secrets has a lot of fun to offer. The script, written by original National Treasure scribes Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, takes the same tactic of using real historical moments to weave together an interesting story. While there are factual inaccuracies—for example, while there are two desks made from the HMS Resolute, they are not twins—they’re minor and inconsequential. The dialogue is kept fast and light throughout, and the story neither really slows down nor feels rushed. The clues that take Ben and company around the world are, admittedly, a little more far-fetched, and the process of getting there takes an unfortunate backseat sometimes to the action. It would have been nice to see more of what the first film excelled at, which is providing a more concrete historical backdrop as opposed to fabricated things like a secret presidents book.

The cast is very nice, and all excel at the roles they have to play. Nicolas Cage plays Ben much like he did in the first one and it carries off well. Ben Gates is a brilliant man, if occasionally flawed in his convictions of what is right. He is also, first and foremost, a patriot and an idealist. In an age where anti-heroes are so popular and public sentiment against the government is so high, it’s a very refreshing breath of air to see a man played with such high ideals that doesn’t come off as preachy. Diane Kruger’s Abigail is fun and provides the intellectual grounding for most of the film. Voight is able to play Patrick as more involved this time around, and his banter with Mirren’s icy Emily provides several great moments of dialogue. Ed Harris is great as the antagonist Wilkinson, making him, much like Sean Bean did in the first with his villain, entirely human and someone you can like, even when you hate him. Again though, as in the first, the biggest joy to watch is Justin Bartha. Riley is the comic relief and sidekick, but he’s not a one-note sort of sidekick as you often see in these films. Bartha is able to instill both a boyish charm and geeky quality to Riley that makes him infinitely enjoyable to watch. It doesn’t hurt that he also has some of the best lines of the movie. And in the big moment where Riley gets to shine as a character and provide the next lead, he carries it off well, providing enough serious acting skill that you find yourself immediately believing him.

Director Jon Turteltaub, whose credits before this and the first film consisted of comedies like Cool Runnings, While You Were Sleeping and The Kid, as well as the John Travolta film Phenomenon, wisely sticks to what he did well in the first film for directing choices. The visual landscapes of the historic places the film takes us are breath-taking, and the closer scenes never feel out of place. There are times in lesser films where the director’s choices on the way a scene looks is out of synch with the location we’re supposed to believe it is; this is not the case here. When Ben and a certain luminary visit a supposed secret tunnel under Mount Vernon, it’s easy to believe that’s exactly where they are. The scenes that are supposedly inside Buckingham Palace and the White House are totally believable. Turteltaub’s only major flaw is that, in sticking with what he did well, the film develops the sort of “been there” feeling that one gets in sequels sometimes. This isn’t helped by a score that is very similar to the first. It detracts from the film, but doesn’t cripple it, and the movie viewed as a whole still makes it very easy to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Film Rating: 7.5

Technical Aspects

Presented exclusively in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ration, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets has a very crisp visual transfer. All the scenes captured in the film are vibrant and warm and the sharpness is very detailed. I was unable to find any problems with the visual aspects of the film.

In terms of the audio transfer, we have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which does its job perfectly fine. It may not quite be up to the standards of the video transfer, but the oft-used score, the dialogue, and the effects come through quite clear, and it would take more equipment then I have to find any faults. The subtitle options are, like the audio, English, Spanish, and French, and are, in a very nice touch I always appreciate available both during the feature and in the special features on both discs. That always earns a little extra-credit from me.

Technical Rating: 8.0

Special Features

Audio Commentary with Director Jon Turteltaub and actor Jon Voight: The only special feature that appears on the first disc, this commentary is a fun little one to listen to. Turteltaub does most of the talking, and manages to do what a commentary track should do: provide insight to the making of the film and while also discussing little tidbits about the film-making process. Voight and Turteltaub both have fun on the track, and it’s worth listening to.

Deleted Scenes: (17:13) There are five deleted scenes, one of which takes up the vast majority of this. Entitled "Pursuit at Rushmore: The Unseen Chapter,” it is a seven-minute sequence that gives Harvey Keitel a lot more screen time and lets Ben and company do more puzzle-solving while in the caves. It’s explained by Turteltaub (who introduces all the clips) that this scene was cut for timing and replaced with a two-minute scene; I personally wish this had stayed in, as it was a nice little segment. The rest of the scenes, while nice, make complete sense why they were cut, and I have no objections. I prefer the introduction before the scene and not commentary during, and so these were a hit with me.

Secrets of a Sequel (6:45): This is a fairly standard and short promotional featurette about making the sequel, featuring some fun footage from the set and typical interviews.

The Book of Secrets: On Location: (9:45) This short talks about the experiences of the crew shooting in the real-life locations where the movie is set. They make a strong point that they wanted to be at the real scenes of everything they could possibly be at, to lend authenticity to the movie.

The Treasure Reel: Bloopers & Outtakes: (5:00) Outtakes are sometimes fun and enjoyable to watch. These outtakes have some good, funny moments; however, it also includes the standard montage of the cast members randomly bursting into laughter during lines, which while mildly amusing, is annoying too.

Street Stunts: Creating the London Chase: (9:40) A very interesting little short, this documents the car chase through the streets of London. They talk about how difficult it is to film car chases through London due to logistical issues and how carefully they had to rehearse because of time limitations in filming. A couple deleted sequences from the chase are shown that were fun, including a large group of priests who have to run to get out of the way, and the beer truck’s collision with a postal van.

Underground Action: (6:45) This featurette talks about the technical aspects of making the scenes leading the characters to Cibola, in particular the balance platform scene and the creation of the city itself. Interesting to watch in terms of how they made it work.

Evolution of a Golden City: (10:18) This extensive short is about the creation of Cibola on Universal’s Stage 12, and provides both a tour of the set and the crew’s reflections on how difficult it was to shoot the effects-heavy portions.

Knights of the Golden Circle: (2:35) Far too short for an aspect of the film I would have loved to know more about, this glosses over some historical information on the KGC, a secret society in the South during the Civil War that wanted to include Mexico and Central America as “slave states.” This could have been expanded into a bigger featurette, and I would have been very happy.

Cover Story: Crafting the Presidents' Book: (4:30) Sort of a fun little short, this talks about the plot point of the President’s secret book and whether it truly exists or not. The last half talks about the detailed process of designing the book used in the movie.

Inside the Library of Congress: (8:40) A short detailing the Library of Congress itself, where a portion of the film takes place in, and it’s collection of texts as well as its philosophies.

Special Features Rating: 9.0

The 411: While it's perhaps a bit too similar to it's predecessor, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets does what it does very well. With an imminently talented cast, fun dialogue, and good action sequences, the film does exactly what it sets out to do, which is entertain. The Two-Disc Collector’s Edition is jam-packed with special features that enhance the movie-watching experience, as any special feature should ideally do, and make this a definite DVD to own.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]