National Treasure: Book of Secrets Reviews

A sequel was expected and that is what happened. The first one was quite family-friendly and energetic whereas this one was kinda weak but nevertheless remained entertaining. The storyline was fine, quite clever and the inclusion of Helen Mirren was a good move. But however, Ed Harris was a talent underused. He plays one of those villains who have a change of heart by the end of the film but even then could not bring the depth and understanding as Sean Bean had done in the previous film. Ed Harris plays your average typical villain and the character was nothing new or different. Shame really, as seeing it's ED HARRIS!

Anyway, it has one of my favourite car chase scene and although it may look kinda impossible, it was still entertaining. All in all, another reason for you to grump over how bad the film series is and how bad Nic Cage is but me, being a somewhat fan of the series, quite liked it... *just don't punch me in the face*

7.0/10

Of course, when this movie was released, many people thought it was actually pretty lame but, in my opinion, if you compare it to what Nicolas Cage has been doing during the last 10 years, the damned thing is almost a masterpiece. In fact, even if you don’t take this into account, I don’t think it wasn't so bad after all. Of course, if you watch this expecting a deep and thoughtful feature, you will be very disappointed, that’s for sure. In my case, I'm a real sucker for movies dealing with treasure hunting even if they are rather preposterous like this one. I mean, sure, it was not Indiana Jones but I thought it was still rather enjoyable. Concerning Diane Kruger, she is sure a fine looking lady but, after all these years, I’m still not convinced by her acting skills and I can’t say she had really much chemistry with Nicolas Cage. Concerning Cage, 3 years later, he would make another movie with Disney also directed by Jon Turteltaub, but for some reasons beyond me, instead of making another sequel which would have made more sense, they would try to launch a new franchise with ‘The Sorcerer's Apprentice’ but it turned out to be a flop. To conclude, if you take it for what it is, a brainless pop-corn blockbuster, it is is actually fairly enjoyable and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I wanted to see this second film because it seemed like an interesting, fun film like the first one was. To be honest, that is all I was expecting. It was a very fun film to watch but as far as acting and directing is concerned, it wasn't that good. I have always thought and still think that both National Treasure films aren't so much rip-offs but are more take-ons of Indiana Jones. Don't get me wrong, it is a decent film but it could've been a lot better in my opinion. National Treasure is supposedly called the Disney Indiana Jones except Indiana Jones is way better.


Nicolas Cage's performance as ... wasn't that good. I like Nicolas' character but I personally think he could have done better. Jon Voight was bad as ... because I think it is a really bad take-on of Dr. Henry Jones Sr. and how he treats his son. Helen Mirren didn't really make it any better either. I just didn't feel it was her kind of film especially after seeing her Oscar winning performance in The Queen.


The directing was average. The action scenes were good but unlike the four Indiana Jones films, it was too overloaded with CGI. The only thing that neither National Treasure 1 or 2 don't have that some archaeology films do have is that they doesn't have that epic feeling about them.


Overall, National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets is a fun adventure film that could've been improved.

This is just a repetition of the first movie's formula. Nothing else. I don't understand why Nicolas Cage keeps doing those kinds of movies...

An Indiana Jones wannabe, that unfortunately doesn't come close. Not with the special effects (huh hello? other than the City of Gold, I didn't see any), nor the acting (the new cast is good but fails to bring anything to the film), not in the script (filled with goofs), not the directing nor the photography.
There's nothing that catches the eye.
That said, it's a film that has one goal, and that is to entertain its audience. That, in my opinion, is the only thing this movie does.

A conversation between me and my boyfriend after seeing the movie:

Me: That was a special movie.
Boyfriend: Very special. What a waste of time and money.
Me: The movie made no sense at all. And where were the 'amazing special effects?'
Boyfriend: I dunno. At least we learned that all you need to improve the relationship is a little treasure hunting.
Me: And we got to watch Nicholas Cage in a wig for two hours. That alone was worth the money. The wig's acting was pretty good.
Boyfriend: Yep, it was very believable. I never doubted for a second it was really a wig.

My boyfriend and I walked into the theatre hoping to see something that might be "vaguely entertaining," but the movie didn't even live up to that low standard. Even though I didn't watch the first one that spawned this sequel, I could tell that it was very similar to the original just from the trailers I've seen. Everything about this movie - the story, acting, dialogue, action scenes or special effects - is forgettable and trite. The only thing that lingers in my memory is Nicholas Cage's wig. Seriously, what is the point of getting a hairpiece if everyone can tell it's not real hair? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? And I've no idea what Helen Mirren was doing in this movie. Guess it's trendy to hire Oscar-winning British dames to appear in shitty Hollywood movies, and who can blame her for taking the money? I just wish I didn't wast my $13 on this piece of junk.


"Hmm .. maybe this will make a better hairpiece"

National Treasure 2: book of secrets is more of the same (i.e. Pirates Of The Carribean franchise). For example, remember how the first film was very fast paced left open alot of questions only to be answered by the end of the film? Book of secrets does just that with the sequel formula. The only thing new to this film, besides the non-stop quirky jokes from Riley Poole, is the new additionto the cast. which includes Ed Harris, Helen Mirren, and Bruce Greenwood. National Treasure 2: Book Of Sectets is for die hard fans of the first film thats assuming you don't catch on to the very obvious re-writes throughout the film.

God I love this genre of movies, I love it so much that I can even withstand watching one of my top 5 worst actors in Hollywood, Nic Cage. However, the beauty of this film is, it doesn't matter who plays the lead. Definitely a great followup to the original, and a great number of clues that will undoubtably lead to next installment.

It's been a while since I've seen the first movie in this series, so it's hard for me to compare the two. I can say from what I remember that I enjoyed seeing the first one more, but this was in no way a disaster like some sequels I have seen in the past. This was still highly entertaining and worth watching.

For me this one was easier to follow than the first, they both have the same basic concept in that the movie is like a 'treasure hunt'. A huge adventure, moving from clue to clue to eventually find something extraordinary.. a place or item. In this case, Ben Gates is on an adventure to clear his family's name by travelling to some of the best destinations in the world.. finding hidden clues and discovering some of the world's most hidden secrets. It's enjoyable watching them find each of the clues, moving from one place to the next with help from some high people in society.. including the president!

Nicholas Cage has obviously mastered the role of Ben Gates, giving an amazing performance. Two thumbs up to him! Justin Bartha made the whole movie a LOT more entertaining, some of his lines were just hilarious. It was cool to see Ed Harris as the 'bad guy', but there was just something about his last scene that was just in no way believable what he was saying. But apart from that he wasn't half bad! Diane Kruger at the beginning I thought she would annoy me throughout the movie, but after this I think I'm beginning to like her more. Jon Voight was great, he's a nice addition to the cast, as were Harvey Keitel and even Bruce Greenwood.

The ending is left open for another movie in this series, and I sure would love to see another one. The great ideas never stop, I'd sure be there on the opening night again for the third if there was one. This starts off dark and mysterious and ends with a satisfying ending and good feeling. Please, if you liked the first one, see this! You won't be disappointed!