NATIONAL TREASURE
BOOK OF SECRETS

"It's the President's book"

While presenting new evidence about his great grandfather part in the solving of Abraham Lincoln's assassination plot, Mitch Wilkinson (Harris) interrupts to inform Ben (Cage) and Patrick Gates (Voight) that in fact Thomas Gates was part of the plot and he has the evidence to prove it. Determined to clear his family's name, Ben, Riley (Bartha) and Abigail (Kruger) investigate but what they uncover could lead to a treasure beyond their imagination.

The success of the first 'National Treasure' movie made a sequel inevitable but can the second movie keep up the fun and excitement of the first?

The standard was set for action adventure treasure hunting movie with the 'Indiana Jones' franchise. Since the last Indy movie appeared in 1989 many films have tried to recreate the success and feel of these films. With films like 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider', 'Sahara', 'The Mummy' and 'The Da Vinci Code' trying to recreate the same successful formula, the original 'National Treasure' was the one that came closest to that feel of classic Indiana Jones formula.

With the first movie looking into the Templar treasure, the second movie takes Ben Gates and his team on an even greater treasure hunt, one that will take them to Paris, London and all over America to pursue one of the greatest treasures in history, the Lost City of Gold. Of course that journey will not be an easy one and it will take all of Ben's investigational skills to uncover the clues that will help him clear his family name and uncover a treasure beyond imagination.

Using the same formulae as the first film, the movie successfully mixes adventure, action and comedy and allows the characters to crew, even though it is ever so slightly. While Nicolas Cage is quickly becoming too big for his own movies, with his screen persona taking over everything he stars in, the 'National Treasure' movies and his character Ben Gates is probably his most likeable of his big budget projects. This is helped by the ensemble cast, with Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger, Harvey Keitel and Jon Voight returning as Riley Poole, Abigail Chase, Agent Sadusky and Patrick Gates. Ed Harris and the always-excellent Helen Mirren join the cast as rival treasure hunter Mitch Wilkinson and Ben's mother Professor Emily Appleton, making this not just about the performance of Nicholas Cage.

'National Treasure: Book of Secrets' is much the same as the first movie, which isn't a bad thing. While it might not be a patch on the 'Indiana Jones' series, this is still filled with action, adventure and puzzle solving that will have you on the edge of your seat while you try and solve the next clue. With the movie setting up further adventures, expect many 'National Treasures' to be found.

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National Treasure

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2008