I’m disappointed. I had such high hopes for National Treasure: Book of Secrets, but it lacked the punch and excitement of the original. The wit and special effects, and historical hijinks, were still there, but the script didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat. It’s never a good sign when I’m checking my watch during a movie, but to admit that I fell asleep—that’s just wrong!

Benjamin Gates and his entourage are all back for another round of hunting treasure—this time, the Book of Secrets passed down from President to President. Gates wants to prove that his relatives weren’t responsible for the assassination of President Lincoln, while the relation of a Confederate general is out to stop him and gain the Lost City of Gold for himself.

I found the movie to be predictable and slow, as if everyone in the movie were a little bored, a little less passionate, and just going through the motions. I usually feel that way about Nicolas Cage, but this time he had company. There was no attachment I felt to clearing his great grandfather’s good name—it just wasn’t a matter of life and death. And the convoluted story that gets the Gates family from the assassination of Lincoln to the Native American Lost City of Gold… yikes!

The only interesting tidbit for me was wondering what the current President of the United States wanted to know from page 47 of the Book of Secrets. What isn’t instantly clear is why he could tell Gates where to look for it but he couldn’t go read it for himself. The encounter between Gates and the President is probably the most notable conversation in the whole movie.

The President and Gates are portrayed as having an uncanny resemblance in spirit. Gates exhibits great faith in who the President is as a person, as a man, as a leader. It’s obvious that the President is surprised, but Gates says something about the attributes that he has given the President. “People want to believe those things,” Gates says, and he’s talking about trustworthiness, honor, courage and purity. It’s what we seek—from each other, not just our leaders—and the movie pauses from its impatient push toward treasure to soapbox for a minute, and that’s okay.

Overall, the movie is fun, and clean, and morally upright; but it’s old ground, no pun intended. For real entertainment, go grab the original off the shelf. Now, that’s real entertainment.