Best Kept Secret

Rating: 4/10 (12 April 2008)

Can someone please explain to me how Nicolas Cage convinces filmmakers that he's credible as an action hero? While the first instalment was kinda fun, this plot-hole-ridden golf cart ride is as forgettable as who you sat next to in the second grade.
Some light-hearted moments pepper the duration, and Diane Krueger certainly is easy to watch. But all in all, this looks like a hormone-fed franchise just waiting to milked.
The swiss-cheese plot is about a race against bad guys to clear the name of one of Ben Gates' (Cage) forefathers (although "one of his four fathers" might have made for a more interesting premise). This after the revelation that they may have been complicit in the killing of...wait for it...Abraham Lincoln.
I'm convinced the writers realised that no-one would care about this, but being too lazy to start again (either that or too pre-occupied making writers strike picket placards), shifted the plot implausibly to a treasure hunt for a lost city of gold. And then threw in something about a conspiracy involving presidents just for good measure.
A hop to Paris, a skip to London and a jump back to the US later, one wonders if the plot devices aren't completely lost on US Americans who have no concept of maps (Geography)..and historical facts... and such as like.
PS: Will somebody please tell Miss Teen USA South Carolina that this is movie is not based on fact, and that there won't be a history pop quiz based on the movie after the screening - I heard she's stressing out about that.