NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS

A sequel to the Disney movie NATIONAL TREASURE hits theatres making a big SMASH! Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is now famous for the finding of the Templar treasure, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) is the author of a book on the subject that is not exactly a bestseller, and Ben and Abigail (Diane Kruger) have broken up. When the pernicious Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) finds evidence of the Gates family being behind President Lincoln's assassination, Ben sets on the trail to clear his family's name. But there is just one way to do that - by finding Cíbola, an ancient, not to mention probably mythological city that's very streets were made of solid gold. Ben and his father, being much closer now than they were in the first movie, find some clues with computer geek Riley, and even Abigail volunteers some help on the hunt. The one dragged into it this time is Ben's mother Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren), even though she and Patrick haven't spoken in 32 years. In a crazy chase that involves old arguments, other countries, and reckless villains, more and more clues are gathered until there is one piece missing. But what will Ben do to get it?

This movie is very exciting and it is a great balance of story and action. I found the bad guys not NEARLY as smart as everybody's favorite Ian from the first film, just a bunch of old guys wanting to be famous. Mitch doesn't want to have to figure out clues for himself, so he drags Ben into it, his sole smart move being cloning his dad's phone. If you're going to have a bad guy it should at least be a GOOD bad guy, but this fellow causes enough opposition to keep you on the edge of your seat and not rolling your eyes. There is one case of subtle profanity and Abigail kisses the guy she's been dating to distract him from Ben's clue-finding in the Oval Office. Patrick and Emily are very affectionate to their son. There is a crazy car chase that sends pedestrians running for their lives and barely escaping with them. But unlike Mitch, Ben is careful not to hurt people and nobody gets hit. This is a great movie and if you've watched the first one, you DEFINITELY need to see this one!

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub Produced by: Jon Turteltaub Jerry Bruckheimer Written by: Jim Kouf Terry Rossio Ted Elliott Starring Nicholas Cage Justin Bartha Diane Kruger Jon Voight Helen Mirren Ed Harris Music by Trevor Rabin Cinematography John Schwartzman Editing by William Goldenberg David Rennie Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures Release date(s) December 21, 2007 Running time 124 min.