Fun, but overly contrived; a waste of acting ability & locations

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2008)

What was the magic of National Treasure 1? It was the sense of discovery with the pressure of a time-line in which to solve complex puzzles having interesting connections in history, all the while having the "bad guys" attempting to do the same.
That element is lost is NT2, and this film goes the way of Tomb Raider 2 by having the the good guys team up with the bad guys to solve the puzzle by forcing them to cooperate, but never with any real sense of a threat. This type of plot tool is very weak.
The movie also wastes too much time in character development of Ben's mother and father which adds very little light humor, but serves to burn screen time and bog the film down rather than propel it. They should focus more on the verbal sparring between Ben and his tech buddy, Riley, which does more for humor in the film. Diane Kruger (Abigail) seems to be there for eye candy in this film, not really contributing much to the plot like she had in NT1 by hampering Ben's progress or threatening to take flight with clues Ben needed.
NT2 seems to move "too fluidly, too quickly." The director simply wants to rush the viewer from location to location, seemingly for the sake of showing Ben in different locations as in NT1, but Ben solves puzzles so efficiently at lightening speed in NT2 that there's never the feeling as in NT1 of struggling over a conundrum. Ben seems to make historical connections so effortlessly that you're never on the edge of your seat, nor are the viewers ever given time to ponder the puzzles themselves. With the "bad guys" teamed up with Ben, there's no sense of urgency. The antagonist isn't going to shoot so-and-so by such-and-such time, so why are we being rushed to the next filming location? It'd be nice if Ben and his crew DIDN'T get a clue right for once and then they generated some humor from that.
Turteltaub needs to watch "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" again to understand character motivation. The main character is driven with purpose of action for well-defined and valid reasons. In "Raiders" it's because Indiana doesn't want the bad guys to have possession/control of the Ark which could give the Nazis a powerful advantage during WW II. It's almost the same reason in the 3rd film--the Nazis want the Holy Grail which would tip the balance of power in their favor. All the while in both films, the lives of characters close to Indiana are put in peril. National Treasure 1 had similar character motivation. National Treasure 2 did not.
Turteltaub, if you're reading this (hah! yeah, right), and considering a plot device for National Treasure 3 (based on page 47 of the book of secrets), then you should consider using the same plot device as Indiana Jones #3: Indiana Jones' father was missing (causing Indiana to act), then his father was shot (causing him to act to find the grail); place one of Ben's family members (Abigail as Ben's wife?) in mortal danger, forcing Ben to solve puzzles on a compressed time-line. It works all the time for the hit TV series, "24." Bottom line: NT2 is a fun, mostly fast-paced ride from location/country to location, and if you set your brain on auto-pilot it's enjoyable. Hopefully NT3 will have the same suspense and wonder as NT1.