The follow up to the 2004 box office surprise "National Treasure" is everything you'd expect. Thank goodness. It should come as no surprise that the conspiracy-based code-cracking mystery adventure is still just as hot as it was in the "year of "The Da Vinci Code."" There is nothing new, nothing special or unexpected about "Book of Secrets" only Ed Harris replacing Sean Bean as the rival treasure seeker. That, and the addition of Helen Mirren as Nicholas Cage's mother to strengthen the film's female roles thanks to leading lady Diane Kruger's utter mediocrity. The film has all the same history mystery you remember, the national (and now international) landmarks, the witty inserts from Justin Bartha's character Riley, and of course the preposterous plans for Benjamin Franklin Gates to get whatever he's after. In other words, if you're looking for something different, more clever, or intellectually stimulating, read the Da Vinci Code again and don't bother with this film. If you want more quirky, ridiculous, treasure-seeking fun that picks up right where the last left off, this is your ticket. ~Steven C

Again new adventures with Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) , a descendant from a historical line familiar whose mission was guard a hidden national treasure . This time happen the followings events , as the film starts with the Lincoln death and James Wilkes Booth saying the famous words , ¨Sic Semper Tiranus¨ .Benjamin's ancestor named Thomas Gates (Joel Gretsch) is spontaneously implicated as key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln death caused by a missing page of the murderer's diary and found now . Ben along with his friend Poole (Justin Bartha) and his ex-fiancée Abigail (Diane Kruger) will take on lots of adventures , risks and confronting a stubborn enemy (Ed Harris). Ben will attempt demonstrate the true and he's determined to prove his great-grandfather's innocence . Poole , Abigail, Ben , his father (John Voight) and later his mother (Helen Mirren) undergo a chase that take them from Paris'statue of Liberty , London's Buckinham Palace , White House , including kidnapping of the US President (Bruce Greenwood) , and Mount Rushmore . Plus , Inspector Saduski (Harvey Keitel)and underlings (Alicia Coppola) are also to the hunting of the chain of clues .

This amusing movie displays suspense , noisy action , tension , humor and extraordinary adventures . The picture blends the ¨Spielberg's Indiana Jones¨ rip-roaring feats and mystery from ¨Da Vinci Code¨ by Dan Brown . It's a pretty amusing cinematic roller coaster that have you on the edge of your seat . The film cast is pretty good , in fact , it includes includes three Oscar winners : Nicolas Cage, Helen Mirren and Jon Voight ; and two Oscar nominees: Harvey Keitel and Ed Harris . Stimulating action set pieces illuminate the full-blown adventures of our protagonists with breathtaking final attraction in the scenes of the underground Olmeca temple . Similar technicians outfit , adding a lively musical score by Trevor Rabin . Replacing the previous cameraman Caleb Deschanel by Amir Mokri and John Schwartzman who make a glamorous cinematography . However , director of photography Amir Mokri was replaced by John Schwartzman several weeks into shooting, this was reportedly due to "creative differences" between Mokri and director Jon Turteltaub. The flick is again lavishly produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and stunningly directed by John Turteltaub . The picture will appeal to Nicolas Cage fans and those have seen the previous part.

The first "National Treasure" (2004) movie qualified as a predictable potboiler that was fast, furious, frivolous fun. The sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is just plain frivolous. Nicolas Cage heads up a seasoned cast, including Jon Voight, Ed Harris, Helen Mirren, Bruce Greenwood, and Harvey Keitel, that looks like they had a blast. If watching other folks have a heck of a lot of fun on the big-screen turns you on, then "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" will delight you. Unfortunately, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" lacks virtually everything that good action-adventure movies boast. You won't find many suspenseful scenes that are realistic enough to make you squirm at the edge of your seat. Everything here resembles a carefully contrived amusement park thrill ride. When all is said and done, the heroes, villains, and sidekicks engage in an endless game of musical chairs. In fact, the entire movie looks like an episode taken from producer Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS-TV series "The Amazing Race." Basically, the principals scramble breathlessly across Europe, on a harebrained scavenger hunt for clues that bring them into contact with several famous places or high-ranking people, such as the President of the United States. Moreover, you know that nobody is going to get die or get seriously hurt, except perhaps the dastardly devious villain. Worse, you know a movie like "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is second-rate when the cartoon shown before it is more amusing than anything in this rated PG, 130 action-adventure comedy of errors. Right, the best thing about "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is the Walt Disney Studios' cartoon about Goofy and his arduous antics to assemble a high-definition television set within the confines of his modest home.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" should have been subtitled "Books of Secrets." Villainous Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris of "Apollo 13") uses a missing page from presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary to implicate an ancestor of Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage of "Next") and his father Patrick Gates (Jon Voight of "Heat") as the mastermind behind the Lincoln's assassination. Naturally, our overgrown Hardy Boys heroes don't take kindly to Wilkinson's smear tactics. They embark on a race for clues that will clear their ancestor of this accusation. Some audiences, especially around these parts, may take offense at the way that "National Treasure" director Jon Turteltaub and scribes Cormac & Marianne Wibberley, try to rekindle the flames of Southern hatred with a plot gimmick that involves a secret Confederate society. Along the way, Ben breaks into restricted parts of Buckingham Palace with his estranged archivist girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger of the first "National Treasure") and their computer savvy, comic-relief sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha of "Failure to Launch") so that they can ransack antique desks and then run rings around British security personnel. At another point, Ben and company make monkeys out of the U.S. Secret Service when our protagonist kidnaps the President (Bruce Greenwood, who played JFK in the Kevin Costner thriller "Thirteen Days") during a ceremony at George Washington's estate at Mount Vernon. Ben has to separate the President from his bodyguards long enough to learn the whereabouts of the Chief Executive's Book of Secrets. This apocryphal reference book about nation's paranoid secrets is concealed in the Library of Congress. Eventually, the trail takes Ben and company to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore. Along the way, Ben's father Patrick has to reconcile with Ben's mother, his ex-wife, Emily Appleton (Helen Mirren of "Prime Suspect") who helps them decipher obscure Native American symbols. These reconciliations between Ben and Abigail as well as Patrick and Emily never generate much mirth.

"National Treasure: Book of Secrets" isn't half as good as its predecessor. Moreover, some of its scenes have been cloned from other recent movies. The backwards car chase in London looks suspiciously like the backwards car chase from the slightly better but just as objectionable The Da Vinci Code." The writers took the dialogue almost word-for-word about those paranoid national secrets straight from another Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster, "The Rock" (1996) with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. The biggest set-piece occurs at the climax of the action with our heroes, heroine, sidekick, and villain atop an implausible giant spinning waffle iron contraption that looks like something out of the 1980 "Flash Gordon" extravaganza. What few historic facts and stories that come up in the plot could be found in the trivia section of any college textbooks, especially the phrase about mud. Altogether, if you're looking for lightweight, disposable fare to forget about the moment you hit the exit door, "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" is superb. The first "National Treasure" movie coined over $347 million worldwide so it was inevitable that Bruckheimer would produce another installment.