Anyone for another round of Clue - American History edition?

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2010)

My Take: Goofy and implausible, but entertaining nonetheless.
Imagine finding out that your great grandfather was a part of an infamous assassination of a famous American President, because some guy claims to have found long lost evidence to prove. Now imagine anyone would still give a damn about this and you got the whole plot of NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS. It's not very different from the original NATIONAL TREASURE, also silly, which wasn't really different from so many other quest/treasure hunt movies like INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE and Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE and maybe, say, a puzzle book for kids. It's all pretty goofy, with a plot that doesn't just border on ludicrous, but just plain ridiculous. It uses centuries of American history as plot devices and twists. Goofy fun, but fun nonetheless.
Like the original NATIONAL TREASURE, you should take it for what it is and it's actually a pretty good ride, but a bumpy one to be sure. Nicolas Cage, who still sports that goof hairdo from NEXT that makes Tom Hanks' mullet in THE DA VINCI CODE look "in", is back as archeology know-all Ben Gates who is forced to search for more hidden treasure buried beneath American history just to clear out hi family name, dented by the possible fact that his great grandfather could be an accomplice in the Lincoln assassination. Once again, Gates and the gang, his girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) and buddy Riley (Justin Bartha), must decipher a series of hidden clues, use his history know-all to crack open the history-old secret. And I thought the ending for THE DA VINCI CODE was silly!
So with all this case-cracking, riddle-solving or what not have to do with the titular Book of Secrets? Well, it's the book where all the government's secrets are written in and could possibly lead them closer to where "X" marks the spot. It's really a McGuffin of course, which is just an excuse for Cage and co. to fool around in Buckingham Palace, The White House and eventually in Mt. Rushmore. Ridiculous really, but in this case I can forgive the overall ridiculousness of the piece and just went along for the ride. In the film is aided by a strong supporting cast, which includes Ed Harris as the mysterious baddie who uncovers the missing page of John Wilkes Booth's diary and John Voight and (what do ya' know!) Helen Mirren as Ben's parents. Cage is still in his goofy, over-the-top form, but the case of NATIONAL TREASURE movies, his performance just feels right at home with all the nonsense in display. So, yeah, NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS is a pretty silly movie, an empty-headed affair that requires you to suspend your disbelief as far as you can.
Rating: *** out of 5.