Less engrossing than its 2004 predecessor National Treasure, Jon Turteltaub???s busy sequel National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is nevertheless a colourful and witty adventure, another race against overwhelming odds for the answer to a historical riddle. Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), the treasure hunter who feverishly sought, in the first film, the whereabouts of a war chest hidden by America???s forefathers, is now charged with protecting family honour. When a rival (Ed Harris) offers alleged proof that Gates??? ancestor, Thomas Gates, was not a Civil War-era hero but a participant in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben and his father (Jon Voight) and crew (Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger) hopscotch through Paris, London, Washington DC, and South Dakota to gather evidence refuting the claim.

The film is most fun when the hunt, as in National Treasure, squeezes Ben into such impossible situations as examining twin desks in the queen???s chambers in Buckingham Palace and the White House???s Oval Office, or kidnapping an American president (Bruce Greenwood) for a few minutes of frank talk. Helen Mirren, the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Actress, wisely joins the cast of a likely hit film as Ben???s archaeologist mother, long-estranged from Voight???s character but as feisty as the rest of the family. Returning director Turteltaub takes excellent advantage of his colorful backdrops in European capitals and the always-eerie Mount Rushmore, and oversees some wildly imaginative sets for this dramedy???s feverish third act in an audacious and completely unexpected, legendary setting. If National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets doesn???t feel quite as crisp and unique as its predecessor, it is still ingenious and wry enough to laugh a bit at itself. --Tom Keogh

Have to agree with some of the other contributors. It really is terrible. I saw this on a cruise ship. Others must have known about it, as there were only 4 others in the cinema. We walked out after 15 mins. Not just because there was another helping of free food aboard, but I could not stomach any more of such a stupid story line. Helen Mirren must have been drunk to have accepted this script, or likely as it was American Film, she just accepted whatever money was thrown at her. Someone else wrote AWESOME, sigh, I can only take it, they are american. The would believe anything. Do Not waste your money on this, unless you are the sort that likes movies that you do not care what happens next.

A movie for families, with a good cast, good action scenes and a good plot. Ie, a good plot and good action scenes for this type of movies. I my opinion better than first episode. If you like these films, you may have two hours funny. However, in the plot (a bit "strange" for european people, incentred on US Civil War and Lincoln's assassination) there are some "ethic" themes: patriotism, honour, family's love and so on, not usual in these cases.

The first film was alright. But number two is quite literally that. Nicholas Cage must accept the fact that his action hero days are well behind him. Some of the scenes where he runs resemble Roger Moore in his twilight Bond years. The Rock and Con Air were a long time ago Nicholas and whats going on with whats left of your hair ?. Jon Voight and Helen Mirren are welcome distractions but thats about it. I had the misfortune to see this tosh at the cinema. Aside from being overlong and generally awful it has as much tension as a collapsed rope bridge. Avoid at all costs and at ??4.98 its about ??4.oo overpriced.

This was one of the most unimaginative, derivative and just plain boring films I've ever had to sit through. It tries to be a cross between a Dan Brown thriller and an Indiana Jones film and merely succeeds in reminding the viewer how superior those two genres are. The acting is terrible too. The new Indiana Jones film is 100 times better than this. Avoid!

The main problem with this film is that if you've seen the first then you've seen this one. There is no originality in the script at all which is a shame, because I would say that this film has just killed the franchise.

Again Nicholas Cage takes the lead role of Ben Gates in this Tomb Raider type film. Once again Ben and his trusty sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) and girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) are once again attempting to clear the name of his great grandfather - just like they did in the first film. In this one he (briefly) kidnaps the President rather than the Declaration of Independence, but once again they end up being chased around by the bad guys, while looking for the treasure that will prove his relatives innocence. I told you it was very similar.

One shock to me was to see how ill the great Ed Harris looked, but that is the only shock involved.

Sadly, this film fails to live upto even the first film, I gave it two stars for the entertainment value it will have for those who haven't already seen the first.