The other remarkable thing about these movies is that in an age where it's easy to generate locations through computer animation the producers insist on filming at actual locations as much as possible. This is a much bigger film than its predecessor, in part because of the locations used in the film: Paris, London, Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress, and Mount Rushmore. One of the most exciting parts of the film is a car chase actually filmed on the streets of London.
In addition, all of the principal characters from the first movie, both in front of and behind the camera, are back in this one. The on-screen chemistry is evident throughout the film.
There are also a couple of notable additions to the cast. Ed Harris makes a terrific villian in Mitch Wilkerson. Bruce Greenwood makes a terrific and thoroughly believable President of the United States. But the best addition is Helen Mirren as Emily Appleton, Patrick Gates' ex-wife and Ben Gates' mother. The chemistry between her and Jon Voight is wonderful and it's thoroughly believable that they were married.
Disney has, as with earlier titles, offered a two-disc collector's edition that offers additional bonus features not available on the single disc. It's absolutely worth the extra money to purchase the two-disc edition as the wealth of bonus featurettes add to the enjoyment of the movie. In the featurettes we learn how different aspects of the film were completed including the extensive City of Gold sequences as well as the aforementioned London car chase.
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets does a terrific job of picking up where National Treasure left off, providing another exciting bit of cinematic escapism. In many respects, National Treasure 2 is a bigger adventure with more exciting locales than the first film. Watching the movie again made me hope that we haven't seen the last of the Gates family adventures. These movies may be the best movies ever made but they are certainly are a good way to spend a couple of hours. Let's hope that there are more of these films to be made.
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