Movie and Television Reviews

For Ron Paul supporters.

For everybody else.

National Treasure: The Book of Secrets (NTBOS) is an inoffensive, boring screen adaptation of the edutainment classic Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, a computer game lazy teachers use to mesmerize their students. Just like the game, the protagonists, Ben Gates, Riley Poole, and the appropriately named Abigail Chase (Nicolas Cage, Riley Poole, and the best German import since the M3, Diane Kruger) go from location to location solving various puzzles.

The puzzles are varied, but easily solved, none taking more than a couple of minutes: After the trio suspect that a particular object contains a clue ("There must be something here.")- and they all do- they look at the mysterious object under a microscope, take it to a professor of ancient languages, or, as in one instance, use a radio controlled helicopter to find it. The characters then progress to the next level until they fight the "boss" at the end. Well, not exactly a boss. They fight the natural decay of the lost Golden City of Cibola (Ron Paul supporters will be glad to know that the discovery makes a return to the gold standard possible).

The whole game is simple thanks to the large verbal manual (no tutorial, however), but not without its confusing parts. There's a bad guy of sorts called Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) who wants the treasure. Actually, he wants the credit for discovering the treasure more than the actual gold. Anyways, instead of asking Ben for help, he has to fool him into finding it which is good because we get a car chase that wouldn't have occurred had the writers strived for logic.

The "Book" in the title refers to a tome full of national secrets kept by the American president. The JFKish president (Bruce Greenwood) wants to find the lost city of Cibola too, but, for some reason, can't just give Gates the book. No worries, however: We get another chase scene! It's one of the best levels.

I didn't experience any crashes. The graphics are "gorgeous" and the controls intuitive. I hear a patch on the DVD will add new scenes as well as allow one to skip the boring parts, making the whole thing three minutes long. I'll buy it if there's an Easter Egg of Diane Kruger in a Dirndl.

Politics/ Message:

NTBOS is PG, proving that even movies without sex and violence can be dull. The president is a decent guy, but says that people don't believe that of their leaders anymore. Gates replies that people "want to believe that." It can be interpreted as a dig on President Bush, but who cares?

The movie deals with an ancient American society, the Toltecs, yet refreshingly avoids any form of collective white guilt or polical correctness- no: "We can learn a lot from them." In fact, Gates reminds the audience that ancient Americans sacrificed people.

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego

National Treasure (Widescreen Edition)

The second movie isn't as good as the original kind of like Brittney Spears second album didn't reach the excellence of the original.

Credits below:

Follow up:

Directed by
Jon Turteltaub

Writing credits
Cormac Wibberley (screenplay) (as The Wibberleys) &
Marianne Wibberley (screenplay) (as The Wibberleys)

Cormac Wibberley (story) (as The Wibberleys) &
Marianne Wibberley (story) (as The Wibberleys) &
Ted Elliott (story) &
Terry Rossio (story)

Jim Kouf (characters) and
Oren Aviv (characters) &
Charles Segars (characters)

Cast (in credits order)

Nicolas Cage ... Ben Gates

Justin Bartha ... Riley Poole

Diane Kruger ... Abigail Chase

Jon Voight ... Patrick Gates

Helen Mirren ... Emily Appleton

Ed Harris ... Mitch Wilkinson

Harvey Keitel ... Sadusky

Bruce Greenwood ... The President

Ty Burrell ... Connor

Michael Maize ... Daniel

Timothy V. Murphy ... Seth

Alicia Coppola ... FBI Agent Spellman

Albert Hall ... Dr. Nichols

Joel Gretsch ... Thomas Gates

Christian Camargo ... John Wilkes Booth

Brent Briscoe ... Michael O'Laughlen

Billy Unger ... Charles Gates
Michael Manuel ... Agent Craig

Brad Rowe ... Agent Hopper

Zachary Gordon ... Lincoln Conspiracy Kid
Peter Woodward ... Palace Guard Haggis

Oliver Muirhead ... Control Room Guard #1

Larry Cedar ... Control Room Guard #2

Troy Winbush ... Agent Hammer
Billy Devlin ... Agent Sledge
William R. Johnson ... Agent Stander

Richard Cutting ... Agent Tyme
Alicia Leigh Willis ... Lady Customer
Rachel Wood ... Girl Customer

Lisa Sheldon ... Jacqueline

Natalie Dreyfuss ... Angry College Girl

Michael Stone Forrest ... Press Secretary
David E. Goodman ... Deputy Press Secretary
Susan Lynskey ... Asst. Press Secretary

Patricia DiZebba ... Press Secretary's Secretary (as Patrizia DiZebba)

Grant Thompson ... Boat Patrolman
Frank Herzog ... Frank
Maryellen Aviano ... Senator's Wife
Jon Abel ... Senator

Eric Carlson ... Air Force General (as Eric W. Carlson)
Randy Travis ... Celebrity Music Star

Mary Firestone ... FBI Agent Doer
Robert C. Koch ... FBI Agent Stayres

Emerson Brooks ... FBI Agent Steppes
Tim Talman ... FBI Agent Cade
Stephen Hibbert ... Tourist on Toilet
Jonathan Emmett ... Palace Guard Sholder
Emily Joyce ... Palace Guide

Glenn Beck ... Abraham Lincoln
Judy Renihan ... Mary Todd Lincoln
Susan Beresford ... Mrs. Mountchessington

Demetri Goritsas ... Asa Trenchard
Charity Reindorp ... Augusta
C.C. Smiff ... Major Rathbone

David Ury ... Barkeep
Peter Miles ... Beer Truck Driver (as Milsey Peter Miles)
Ben Homewood ... Taxi Passenger

Michael McCafferty ... Snooty Historian (as Mike McCafferty)
Russ Widdall ... Treasure Fanatic
Hans Georg Struhar ... Range Rover Owner (as Hans G. Struhar)
Poetri ... Mover
John Travis ... Helicopter Pilot Mike
Create a character page for: ?

Produced by
Oren Aviv .... executive producer
Jerry Bruckheimer .... producer
Chad Oman .... executive producer
Selwyn Roberts .... line producer: UK
Charles Segars .... executive producer
Mike Stenson .... executive producer
Jon Turteltaub .... producer
Barry H. Waldman .... executive producer