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Saturday evening, March 17:

Like I mentioned in my previous Journal entry, I had offered to treat my dad out to any movie of his choice. His box office pick was National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. My family and I are big Nicholas Cage fans, and we loved the original National Treasure. I wasn't sure, at first, when they first announced the movie's creation, how it would go. I mean, yeah, sequels are fantastic- it means another chance to develop a plot of the series. Still, there's always the risk that they try to outdo the first and, thusly, end up failing.

Pleased to announce that this movie was astounding!! The action was fast paced, the intrigue was there as always. The returning actors graced the silver screen with as much character and life as their original roles portrayed. Here are some fine points of the movie affair:

The Music Score: Wonderful, wonderful! The music wasn't always there, but when it was, it perfectly set the mood. A unique timbre of it's own, for example, the introduction music was breathtaking and sent a chill down my spine.

The Visuals: Holy cow, let me tell you- this was a divine key in the movie. I can't tell you how amazing it was. The London car chase, with cars and random objects being torn asunder in the frantic life-and-death chase on wheels, was enough to make me grip the armrest of the theater chairs. The traps and puzzles were also very, very well thought out. You can tell the creators took time with this part of the movie. I think I had a heart attack during the one trap in the cave, the moving plank. That reminded me so much of an Indiana Jones-esque thing.

The Actors: Once again, the actors showed how talented they were! There was no bad acting, no forced emotions; everything fell into place because of them.

The Humor: Yes, yes, this movie had tons of it. This time around less of the humor came from the hapless, love and fame seeking Riley (Justin Bartha) but more from Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage). It's not often you see Cage delve into a humorous routine. His bantering with "the bobbies" during his "drunkard" rant with Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) was pure gold. And, yes, he can mock quite a brilliant British accent.

The negatives: Every movie has them. This one had hardly any complaints from me. However, that doesn't mean I'm 100% happy with this movie. The beginning plot, we find out Abigail has cut it off with her boyfriend, Gates (which I thought they were pretty much a couple at the end of the movie- wasn't said, just implied) and she played off a bit of a jerk from the get go. After a while, though, you begin to warm back up to her character once you see he return to her old ways. Another complaint is there seemed to be less time finding the clues and hopping around compared to the times fleeing from the bad guys, trying to survive traps, and the like. There was also the fact of Gate's mother, Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren). From what I gathered from the father's lines in the first the mother had passed on or something of that matter, and having the mother suddenly thrown into the plot just to help out here and there (and to be a constant cold shouldering, nagging due ex machina plot device) seemed just rushed and out of place.

Overall: This is a must see movie!! For Cage fans, or lovers of the first movie, you won't be disappointed!! I enjoyed every bit of it.

I got to be with my dad that night. That, to me, is priceless. He enjoyed the event as much as I did. This won't be a night easy to forget- and I hope I never do.

heart Peace out, ya'll! heart