6-28-08: Good Movie; Bad Movie

I watched two movies this weekend. One was in a tiny theatre, which was neat, and the other was at home via Pay Per View.

The first movie was called Mongol. It's a foreign film featuring Asian actors and directed and produced by a Russian named Sergei Bodrov. It is about the early life of Genghis Khan, known in the movie as Temudgin. It's an interesting, well-made movie that featured excellent cinematography and very good acting. It starts from the time when Temudgin was a child and son of a Khan, or leader in Mongol. His father is poisoned, and Temudgin goes through a series of trials to become the great leader Genghis Khan. It is the first of an epic trilogy, and I can't wait to see the other two.

The second movie I saw came out a short while ago. It was National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to the popular movie featuring Nicolas Cage. Book of Secrets featured a great cast, including Ed Harris and Helen Mirren among others. The plot revolves around a post-Civil War conspiracy involving the ancestor of Benjamin Gates, played by Nicolas Cage. They seek to prove his innocence in the plot to assassinate President Lincoln. Despite the cool scenery and decent action scenes, I wasn't too impressed. I'm pretty sure Cage was wasted during the filming of it, or else the director, Jon Turteltaub, just felt like having Cage be as silly as possible during some scenes. The plot had some holes in it, which are forgiveable since it's not based on real events, but it just didn't seem to make any sense. The first film was a bit closer to reality. This one just seemed rushed and unpolished. They did, however, leave it open for a third one, which I don't think I will see.