Wiggly Socks Movie Reviews

by Linda Winsh-Bolard

A forced knock-off of the first one.


The film opens with the semi -historical, semi-theatrical account of the Lincoln assassination by the actor John Wilkes Booth.

Before Booth kills Lincoln his accomplices attempt to get decoded a treasure map with no less than the legendary City of Gold on it.

They don’t succeed. Part of the map burns. The treasure is lost- for a time.

And now Ben , a descendant of the original Gate, annoyed that his ancestor’s name is being smeared in an attempt to link him to the Lincoln’s assassination, is looking for the gold. Mitch Wilkinson brought to light a piece of diary page with Gate’s name on it. Immediately Ben is hotly on the track to save family honor.

The old cast is in full support with few new, or newish, twists. Ben Gate’s wife Abigail made him leave and the hunt will, naturally, bring them together. His father’s former wife, Emily, comes to help and renews her relationship with the self-obsessed Patrick Gates.

The presidents of US, apparently all of them, knew about some top secrets- well, duh.

Despite the impeccable special effects, fast camera actions, nicely worked out chases on foot, in vehicles and hanging in water, it is repetitive. The story is predictable to the last notch, the chasing of the clues all around the world often in governmental palaces lacks any tangible tension, the bad guys are uninteresting and the dialogs soppy.

Some things are truly far too out: the chase staged in London, which is full of CCT, with no Bobby in sight, the chopper around the Parisian replica of Statue of Liberty with two French flick conveniently acting as translators of the next clue, the whole amount of money and technology readily available to break into Buckingham Place and the Oval Office. Less if often more.

All of that is hanging on skeleton bones of the possible Mason-Circle of Knights conspiracy looking of lost gold ending in Lincoln’ death and Ben’s determination to prove his family had nothing to do with the assassination. Well, he gets more than a bit overboard.

Rumors about lost gold of Confederacy are numerous. They are probably somewhat based in truth, many of the ship operators were likely to keep the gold the Confederate government gave to purchase goods and arms for it when it became too dangerous to cross the blockade. City of Gold does not come into it.

Lincoln’s assassination, and the brutal, immediate and badly investigated hangings and sentencing that followed it, are also matters of speculation. The missing page in Booth’s diary concerned many. But a city of gold to which Queen Victoria sent a map to the Confederates? That is more than stretching things. Why would the British not use the same map for themselves in1812 ? Why send clues?

And the city itself, from the placement to the staging, so strongly reminded me of an old German film called The Treasure of the Silver Lake that it was embarrassing. I expect the Lakota are laughing outright.

Of course, as the gold is carted away, one cannot help but think that if there are any ancient treasures anywhere hopefully they will never be found.

It is visually nice film with adequate but not great acting. The plot is unfortunately so silly that the visuasl and effects might not save it.

Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present
a Junction Entertainment production
in association with Saturn Films
Credits:
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Screenwriters: The Wibberleys
Story by: Gregory Poirier, the Wibberleys, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Jon Turteltaub
Executive producers: Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman, Oren Aviv, Charles Segars
Directors of photography: John Schwartzman, Amir Mokri
Production designer: Dominic Watkins
Music: Trevor Rabin
Costume designer: Judianna Makovsky
Editors: William Goldenberg, David Rennie
Cast:
Ben Gates: Nicolas Cage
Riley Poole: Justin Bartha
Abigail Chase: Diane Kruger
Patrick Gates: Jon Voight
Emily: Helen Mirren
Mitch: Ed Harris
Sadusky: Harvey Keitel
President: Bruce Greenwood
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: PG