Movie Review: “National Treasure: Book of Secrets

“National Treasure: Book of Secrets” sends our archaeologist hero, Ben Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) on a globetrotting quest to find another secret treasure, all the while restoring his family’s good name. 

The returning cast includes Ben’s archaeologist father, Patrick Gates (Jon Voight); Ben’s personal tech support and sidekick, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha); and Ben’s now ex-girlfriend, Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), whose brief romance with the press secretary (Ty Burrell) of the president of the United States affords the gang the opportunity to search for clues in the Oval Office. 

The new faces in the adventure are Ben’s mother, who also happens to be Patrick’s estranged ex-wife, Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren), a scholar of ancient languages; and a rival archaeologist and Confederate sympathizer named Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), who boldly accuses a Gates ancestor, Thomas Gates (Joel Gretsch), of collaborating in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with John Wilkes Booth. 

Booth shot Lincoln on the same night that he and a co-conspirator forced Thomas Gates into translating a diary page the disclosed Cibola, the lost city of gold.  In order to clear the Gates family name, Ben and the gang must prove the existence of Cibola by finding the long-dispersed fragments of a map.  One of the pieces happens to be hidden in a secret book that is handed down from president to president.

Producer/director Jon Turteltaub deserves kudos for laying hold of the heavyweight talent in this film.  The casting department also did an exceptional job by providing viewers with a make-believe president that actually looks downright presidential and commands a make-believe respect in the person of Bruce Greenwood.

“National Treasure: Book of Secrets” is quite similar to its predecessor.  In this particular case, that is a good thing.  Disney is superb at making sequels that match the quality of the first movie.  Viewers will undoubtedly notice similarities between Book of Secrets and any of the Indiana Jones Movies or Laura Croft, but the studio is only following a pattern that they know sells.  National Treasure is a “Bond” series for kids.  “National Treasure:  Book of Secrets” manages to be a good, fun action movie for the whole family. 

Best Line in the Movie: 

Riley Poole: So let’s recap: We’ve broken into Buckingham Palace, and the Oval Office, stolen a page from the President’s super-secret book, and actually kidnapped the President of the United States. What are we gonna do next, short-sheet the Pope’s bed?
Ben Gates: Well, you never know.

Rated PG for some violence and action.

Runtime: 124 minutes