Hey all!
Three Fridays in a row have resulted in new movies for me, and I am continuing my grinching ways with new movies. National Treasure 2 was a movie I was oddly looking forward to. I am admittedly not a fan of Nic Cage, with his ever changing hairline and odd takes on characterization. The first National treasure was a surprise like for me, having all the puzzle solving and action that I wanted from The Da Vinci Code. That was a movie that failed to really make the compelling story from the book translate. National Treasure took a great puzzle and wrapped some pretty fantastic big budget fun behind it. Though kind of unbelievable, the first film stayed in a form of reality that we related to and gave us a fun group of heroes, and a well acted bad guy in Sean Bean.
National Treasure 2 uses the same formula, but leaves a lot unanswered. The premise of the film finds Nic Cage's character estranged from his girlfriend, Abby, and getting one of his ancestors declared a Civil War hero. When Ed Harris' character brings proof from a lost page of John Wilkes Boothe diary implicating Cage's ancestor in the assassination, Cage must prove his families innocence. Teaming up with his ex and best friend Riley, Cage sets out to find the Presidents book of secrets, a secret diary containing a part of a map to the fabled lost city of gold.
The plots ans action adventure are all very familiar from the first movie, which is okay, but they never really resolve some of the issues, such as actually proving his ancestors innocence, instead everything works out by the discovery of the treasure. Cage is passable in his role, but the film lacks in the supporting cast. Cage's girlfriend, played by Diane Kruger, loses some of the spirit she had in the first film by not really recapturing the sexual tension that made their banter so enjoyable before. Also Ed Harris comes across as more menacing than Sean Bean's baddie in the first, but not quite so charming. Riley, played by Justin Bartha does provide much welcomed comic relief though.
Overall the film is average. It doesn't live up to the fun and adventure of the original, but it is passable. My recommendation is a rental on DVD. Hopefully I will be able to post on Walk Hard and Sweeney Todd this week, and be on the lookout for my Christmas poem either Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for reading!
End of Line.
Gerrad!
No comments:
Post a Comment