National Treasure: Book Of Secrets

Trevor Rabin

Rating: 4.0


After the unexpected success of the first National Treasure, a sequel seemed imminent. And why change anything successful? National Treasure: Book Of Secrets was as enjoyable as the first, but don't expect anything new. It seems the folks at Jerry Bruckheimer Films figured the best way to make a successful sequel was not to change anything, unless it makes it bigger, better, and more dangerous. Replace the Declaration of Independence with the president of the United States, keep everything else pretty much the same, and it's sure to be a success, right? Back are the three main actors, back is the unbelievable story-line, back is the history-based treasure hunt, and back is Trevor Rabin.

Considering the size of the production, one might assume that the soundtrack would at least get a little interest. As it turns out, it isn't even available in any form other than an internet download. It seems that little to no attention was paid to the soundtrack, and the film-makers must have thought it no more than noise-backing considering its small release. I desperately hope this is not setting a standard of movie scoring that anyone else will follow. But, on to the merits of the album itself.

"Page 47" begins the score quite promisingly, with its pleasant melody, and some interesting orchestrational techniques. The strings begin with a quickly moving motif, which is continued as the melody begins, with slight variations for chord changes. The melody is presented first on the oboe, moving into the violin. At this point in the score, the wet Media Ventures string sound is not at all present, with a coarser, more solo-like sound on display. At 1:10, the wet strings take over, but the result is more tasteful, because it has been prepared from the beginning, instead of being overdone the whole time. "Cibola" begins with some very nice textures of woodwind and strings, mixed nicely, and then some good solo cello over top of the normal Rabin scoring. Even thought "Cibola" moves into some very cliche Rabin music, it never seems quite as overdone because of the taste in both the first track and the beginning of this one. So far, so good.

In "Spirit of Paris" despite the slightly interesting accordion usage, most of the normal Media Ventures sound is back. Unfortunately, the album then goes much the way of the original National Treasure soundtrack, and most of my review for that score applies to the rest of this album. The percussion, guitars and strings doing their best to add adrenaline, foregoing the addition of anything else, and everything is so big that nothing becomes big. "Franklin's Tunnel" makes a very in character conclusion, and if that is the character you like, you should enjoy the track.

National Treasure: Book Of Secrets begins well, and the first two tracks show that Rabin is capable of interesting scoring. But the majority of what is presented differs only slightly from its predecessor. However, at only 8 tracks and 22:35 minutes long, the cliched scoring has less time to become repetitive, no matter how hard it tries. For this reason, and the two beginning tracks, it is a more interesting listen than the original effort. If you enjoyed the first, you will enjoy this. If you enjoyed the first, but wished for a little more creativity, a very little more is given here. Rabin can score nicely. Hopefully, it is a side of him we will see more often.

-Colin Thomson


Track List:

Page 47
Cibola
Spirit Of Paris
City Of Gold
So!
Bunnies
Gabby Shuffle
Franklin's Tunnel