If you’re thinking (like me) oh good, we’re halfway there, you’d be dead wrong. Even though we’ve hit this monumental number 50 in the WATC(H), we are still not quite halfway home yet. And yet another Cage movie, Dream Scenario, came out this month. 

But I don’t want to take away from my accomplishment. 

Fifty movies since February is pretty impressive, even for a couch potato like me.

That’s a lot of Cage. It does make me wonder if I can keep up this pace as we move forward. I think I’ve seen fewer of his newer movies, so I should be dipping into uncharted territory as we continue (which I like). 

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But for now, let’s stick to Nicky’s first reprisal of a role previous played, i.e. Benjamin Franklin Gates in Disney’s National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. 

If you’ve seen this movie, it seems a lot like a remake of the original movie rather than a sequel. Sure, sure, some of the details are changed, Gates goes global, and the stakes get a lot higher of course, but the plot is essentially the exact same as the first movie, in broad strokes.

And It Goes a Little Something Like This

Great-great-great-grandfather of Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage), Thomas Gates, is approached by some men to decode a cipher written in John Wilkes Booth diary. Yes, it’s that John Wilkes Booth, who at the time of the request, was present in the Ford Theater shooting poor President Lincoln right in the ole’ brain pan. Thomas is unaware of this treachery, and at first doesn’t realize how he’s actually helping the beaten Confederates do their dirty deeds. As the town erupts outside the theater, Thomas realizes what the code is perhaps pointing to, and that he has been ignorantly working with the Knights of the Golden Circle–helping them potentially locate a treasure that could swing the momentum / result of the war. 

Thomas, a true patriot, tries to toss the partially decoded message into a nearby fireplace to destroy it, but only half succeeds, and instead gets shot and dies right in front of his son, while whispering the words, “the debt that all men pay” (which he is ironically charading to great effect by dying as the answer to the riddle). 

Fast forward to modern day, where Ben Gates and his father are lecturing about their beloved ancestor Thomas, talking up his accomplishments, and patriotic pedigree. Enter the mercenary black market dealer, Mitch Wilkinson (played by Ed Harris) with a very old page fragment from a diary that supposedly implicates Thomas Gates (rather than honors him) as the actual mastermind of the Lincoln assassination plot. 

Ben and his father, Patrick (Jon Voigt) are apoplectic in their disbelief that their forefather could have been accused in such a nefarious plot. Especially since the story of that night was passed down from father to son for generations. Ben is determined to disprove Wilkinson’s claim and clear his ancestor’s name, by decoding the original message and finding the treasure. 

Ben enlists the help of his wingman, Riley (who wrote a book on conspiracy theories that none of his friends have read) who has gotten into trouble with the IRS, and Ben’s (now) ex-girlfriend Abigail to chase down the clues that can lead to the lost treasure he seeks. 

If this sounds like the last movie, where Ben was pushed to crack the codes embedded in history, travel to U.S. historical sites, steal one or more great American artifacts, and evade a gang of unscrupulous men who are pursuing him as a means to score a big haul treasure, that’s because that’s exactly what it is. A remake. 

But true to most sequels (and Disney), the producers always feel the need to go bigger the second time around. I can almost hear their ideas firing off in the planning of the script.

Last time it was just in America, so this time, we’ll send him to England and France. 

Last time Ben had a disenfranchised and estranged father to deal with, so this time, we’ll introduce a new character. A headstrong woman, let’s make it his mom (oooo, Helen Mirren)! And she does not like his father…yeah! And she’s an expert on the indigenous languages. 

Wait, wait, wait. 

Stealing the Declaration of Independence was pretty difficult, how do we top that? I know! This time we’ll need Ben to break into say, the Buckingham Palace…and the Oval Office. Yeah, but even better! Higher degree of difficulty. He’ll need to kidnap the president who has a…let’s call it a secret book!…and this will lead to the treasure…and, the coup de grâce, it will be buried under Mount Rushmore.

Boom! Insta-sequel.

And Are You Not Entertained?

Disregarding the fact that this whole movie was a remake of itself, and basically one big treasure hunt to clear the name and preserve the reputation of a long-dead man named Thomas Gates, it was still a pretty entertaining ride. I have one rule when trying a new TV series–you have to watch at least one episode AFTER the pilot. 

The pilot (often) is a peek-your-interest throwaway episode that introduces the characters and the setting. You basically can’t judge a series based on the pilot episode (unless the characters / setting are completely uninteresting or vile to you.) So, in essence National Treasure (the first) was the pilot for me and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets was what I am judging the series on. 

Was the first a better movie? Maybe?!? IMDB thinks so (6.9 rating for the original, 6.5 rating for the sequel). But I thought the banter, the outrageous situations, the cast, and the adventure aspects of the sequel were better = more entertaining. It could be I had lower expectations for this one than the first. The first one was washed in some nostalgia (i.e. “I remember liking this, so it’s going to be good”) whereas the sequel was an unknown commodity and therefore suspect (i.e. “Rewatch of first one was only so-so, I’m probably gonna hate this one.”)  

I was definitely entertained though, even while laughing at the over-the-top and highly unbelievable situations that Ben and crew got themselves into. 

A few things I liked:

• This awesome scene where Ben (outrageous Nicky!) gets all British and causes a stirring distraction in Buckingham Palace. This scene alone is worth the price of admission (had I gone to a theater and paid to watch this movie). In the words of Riley: That was brilliant!

• The resolute desk puzzles. Again incredibly improbable that these two characters could 1) access either of these rooms given our hyper security conscious world and 2) find a treasure that hadn’t been revealed by a thousand people before it. But hey, everyone loves the idea of finding that secret compartment and uncovering something ancient or valuable. Why would anyone watch The Antique Roadshow otherwise?
• The scene where Ben connects with two disgruntled French policemen by name-dropping the philosopher Montesquieu. Bonus entertainment: Riley flying one of the earliest “drones” around a mini-Statue of Liberty and then getting ticketed for it.

• Seeing inside  the Library of Congress. I’ve always wondered what it looked like, but have never taken the time to visit it or actually google it for images. I love big books and I cannot lie.
• The Goonies ending. I mean it wasn’t a total Goonies ending with a grand fight on a pirate ship and gold doubloons falling from heaven, but there were definitely some One-eyed Willie vibes happening underneath Mount Rushmore with all the booby traps and obstacles to overcome. My wife gets all the credit for making this connection while we were watching it, AND for remembering the name One-Eyed Willie (which I am sad to say I only recognized this double-entendre at this late age of near 50 year old. LOL.)

• The Riley disrespect. I didn’t like how his friends disregarded him since Riley is the one doing all the real work in these films, but I thought it was humorous how he wrote this book about the last “adventure” of finding the Templar treasure and none of his friends read it. Ben hadn’t even opened the package it came in. 

A few things that made me go ‘huh’?

• Risking one’s life and health for historical accuracy. Ben and his father were so desperate to prove their forefather was no “traitor” they were willing to risk life, death, imprisonment. Kidnapping the president? Even breaking into his oval office would never end well, and for what? On the other side of the equation, Wilkinson (unlike Sean Bean’s villain who was all about the money) really wanted to be remembered by history and sacrificed his life for that possibility. He was a fake mercenary in many ways and wanted to just be remembered by history. OK…? Still confused.
• What are all those caged rooms in Buckingham Palace for? I imagine if Ben and Abigail caused a big stir in Buckingham Palace, they would be escorted off the premises and probably put in some kind of…I don’t know…jail? Debtor’s prisons were part of the reason the American colonialists left the British empire so I know they have jails. Instead, they basically were held inside of what looked like a fenced police evidence room, which allowed them (via Riley) to access the room with the resolute desk. Weird plotholes.
• Phil from Modern Family. Phil is the White House liaison has access to the Oval Office. Phil? No one else is there. No cameras are there. We’re talking about Phil. Phil then falls for this “I lost my earring, we better find it” scam which ends with him making out with Abigail while Ben unlocks the desk (only to find the artifact missing.) I am pretty confident this bumbling character is the same one that would one day become Phil on Modern Family. Or Clive Bixby.

• Harvey Keitel. I’m still kind of confused why Harvey Keitel is in either of these movies and playing such a minor role. He must have lost a bet or something. 

Firsts for Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates (x2)

• First time in a reprisal role
• In Paris, in London
• Kidnapping a president
• Unlocking not one, but two puzzle desks
• Mocking the British
• At an Easter Egg hunt
• Arguing with a child about historical facts
• Balancing on a giant slab of rock / booby trap
• In a movie with an iPod / Macbook
• Using a traffic camera for a selfie
• Sliding down the stair bannister in a palace

Recurrences

• Being Benjamin Franklin Gates (National Treasure)
• Stealing a national treasure (National Treasure)
• Royally flipping out on someone (Multiple)
• Conning someone (the President) to get something from them (Matchstick Men)

5 Benjamin Gate Quotes of Note

“I’m gonna kidnap him. I’m gonna kidnap the President of the United States.”

“Did anyone spectral image the page?”

“The past is filled with incredible mysteries.”

“Bangers and mash. Bubbles and squeak. Smoke eel pipe. Haggis!”

“Well, my girlfriend kicked me out, I’m living with my dad and my family killed President Lincoln.”

If you like history-lite films, Disney adventure movies and/or knock-off Indiana Jones / Tomb Raider plots, you should probably watch (or rewatch) The National Treasure movies. Don’t forget to move past “the pilot” quickly and give the sequel a chance. It’s not amazing, but it’s entertaining. Nicolas Cage always is. 

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. He is our national treasure.