National Treasure: Book of Secrets Backdrop Blur
National Treasure: Book of Secrets Poster

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

"The greatest adventure history has ever revealed."

Benjamin Franklin Gates and Abigail Chase re-team with Riley Poole and, now armed with a stack of long-lost pages from John Wilkes Booth's diary, Ben must follow a clue left there to prove his ancestor's innocence in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Top Cast

  • Nicolas Cage

    Nicolas Cage

    Benjamin Franklin Gates

  • Diane Kruger

    Diane Kruger

    Abigail Chase

  • Justin Bartha

    Justin Bartha

    Riley Poole

  • Ed Harris

    Ed Harris

    Mitch Wilkinson

  • Jon Voight

    Jon Voight

    Patrick Gates

  • Helen Mirren

    Helen Mirren

    Emily Appleton

  • Harvey Keitel

    Harvey Keitel

    Peter Sadusky

  • Bruce Greenwood

    Bruce Greenwood

    USA President

  • Ty Burrell

    Ty Burrell

    Connor

Overview

Benjamin Franklin Gates and Abigail Chase re-team with Riley Poole and, now armed with a stack of long-lost pages from John Wilkes Booth's diary, Ben must follow a clue left there to prove his ancestor's innocence in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Rating

6.4 / 10
5,559 Reviews
5 Popular

3 Reviews

  • John Chard
    John Chard
    8 Sep 14, 2019

    Joyous boys own yarn full of the serial silliness of movies past, present and the first movie! As with the enormously successful first film, this sequel irritated as many people as it entertained. It's just the nature of the family friendly blockbuster, that some film fans refuse to accept them as viable fun family fare, whilst others can easily run with it and have a great time. The highbrow versus the lowbrow? Well maybe if you want to really be speaky arty about it... National Treasure: Book of Secrets made over $450 million at the worldwide box offices. Now we are told that financial success is no marker for quality of product, that's fair enough, but what is undeniably true is that it means there were considerably "a lot" of happy paying punters! From way back in the day when we had the likes of Gunga Din, Beau Geste and The Adventures of Robin Hood, there has been a considerable market for the action adventure movie. Some are better than others, some are even more brainy, but mostly they deliver a set pattern of what many people want. The makers of this sequel just go bigger than the first film whilst following exactly the same formula. Nicolas Cage's treasure hunting Benjamin Franklin Gates has to follow clues to treasure again, only this time it's to clear his family name since his granddaddy has been implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Justin Bartha and Diane Kruger are again along for the ride, while Jon Voight gets more screen time as Daddy Gates. Helen Mirren joins the fray as the estranged Mommy Gates, Ed Harris slots in for villain duties and Bruce Greenwood adds class as the president of the USA. The stunts and set-pieces are humongous, the traps and clues more elaborate than before and the photography (Amir Mokri and John Schwartzman) once again is gorgeous. It hurtles along at a nifty pace, stopping only to explain the various plot machinations to younger viewers, and the comic by-play between all the principal players is set in stone. Is it full of implausibilities, insulting history and credulity stretching beyond belief? Yes! Of course, that's why many of us action adventure fans escape into such high energy nonsense. Those expecting cerebral tickles or those offended by basic family blockbusters should quite simply stay away. 7.5/10

  • Rob
    Rob
    7 May 14, 2023

    Well, what do you know, a sequel that's pretty much the same story as the original. But so what? This movie isn't as good as the first but it's just as enjoyable. So let's get on board and find some treasure. Just one thing, can someone explain to me why Nicolas Cage got so loud in this one?

  • CinemaSerf
    CinemaSerf
    6 Jun 24, 2024

    Following on from the original 2004 adventure, we discover that "Mitch" (Ed Harris) is now alleging that Nicolas Cage's "Gates" family were embroiled in the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln - and he claims to have proof from a diary by none other than John Wilkes Booth himself! It seems that in order to disprove these scurrilous rumours, he must galvanise his now estranged wife "Abigail" (Diane Kruger) and partner "Riley" (Justin Bartha) to track down a legendary city of gold. Surely it doesn't exist? Well there might just be a clue in the President's "Book of Secrets" - but he doesn't even know if that exists - and to find out, well he's going to have to get face to face with the President before embarking on a trip that will take him to Paris and then to the Queen's private study in Buckingham Palace before asking his dad (Jon Voight) and academic mum (Dame Helen Mirren) to chip in to help them rescue the family's reputation. Oh, and yes - menacing "Mitch" is hot on his trail, determined to use "Ben" to do all of the heavy lifting whilst he hopes to sneak in and claim the treasure for himself! It's very similar to the first film in style and pace, but the story is not so good and the quirkiness of the adventure struggles to stay as entertaining. There's a little too much familial dysfunction from both couples and the hapless "Riley" is much less engaging here, too. It's watchable enough, but nothing much to write home about.

Trailers & Clips

Recommendations

Murder at the Embassy

1934. Private detective Miranda Green investigates a murder perpetrated in the British Embassy in Cairo, where a top secret document was stolen, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world. All those present in this closed place are suspected: the American photographer, the English student, the American actress, the Egyptian security guard, the ambassador interpreter, the Egyptian gardener and - why not? — the Ambassador himself. But who would have expected that a small group of Nazis would be behind a plot, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world?

Murder at the Embassy

6.2 2025
The Adventures of Tintin

Intrepid young reporter, Tintin, and his loyal dog, Snowy, are thrust into a world of high adventure when they discover a ship carrying an explosive secret. As Tintin is drawn into a centuries-old mystery, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine suspects him of stealing a priceless treasure. Tintin and Snowy, with the help of salty, cantankerous Captain Haddock and bumbling detectives, Thompson and Thomson, travel half the world, one step ahead of their enemies, as Tintin endeavors to find the Unicorn, a sunken ship that may hold a vast fortune, but also an ancient curse.

The Adventures of Tintin

6.9 2011