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National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Walt Disney Pictures

National Treasure: Book of Secrets reviews


5.0

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 107 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for some violence and action

Starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Bruce Greenwood, and Helen Mirren

When a missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth surfaces, Ben's great-great grandfather is suddenly implicated as a key conspirator in Abraham Lincoln's death. Determined to prove his ancestor's innocence, Ben follows an international chain of clues that takes him on a chase from Paris to London and ultimately back to America. This journey leads Ben and his crew not only to surprising revelations, but also to the trail of the world's most treasured secrets. (Walt Disney Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Adventure
WRITTEN BY:	Charles Segars (characters), Oren Aviv (characters) , Jim Kouf (characters) Terry Rossio (story), Ted Elliott (story) Marianne Wibberley (& story), Cormac Wibberley (& story)
DIRECTED BY:	Jon Turteltaub
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 20, 2008 Theatrical: December 21, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	124 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

A welcome throwback to family-friendly PG moviemaking.

LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson

This ain’t "The Da Vinci Code," folks, and the reason you can tell is that it’s actually quite entertaining.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Cage is back in crackling good form in National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Director Jon Turteltaub has fun with Indian glyphs, giant stone pulleys, and an Indy Jones-worthy City of Gold located beneath the rocky shoals of Mount Rushmore.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

It's a measure of the film's infectious goofiness that Cage seems altogether more interested in clearing the name of a long-dead ancestor than in finding a city of gold.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

It contains all the elements from the original film...But that's the problem: It's virtually the same movie with new locations. Oh, plus Helen Mirren. Not a bad addition, but the popcorn fun is gone.

Variety Justin Chang

Graced with some extra star wattage courtesy of Helen Mirren and Ed Harris, this diminishing-returns sequel sends Nicolas Cage on another quest to strike it rich, get young auds excited about history and solve puzzles that are generally less stimulating than yesterday's Sudoku.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

Like its predecessor, “National Treasure,” this sequel amounts to a bunch of crossword puzzle answers stitched together with explosions, chases and displays of intuitive reasoning that the “Twin Peaks” F.B.I. agent Dale Cooper would reject as too right-brained.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A strictly by-the-book sequel: It doesn't cheat series fans but it doesn't offer many thrills or surprises or lingering puzzles, either.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Often as noisy, dippy, and enjoyable as 2004's "National Treasure," and when it's not, it's just another sequel, more absurd than most.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

No better than the first – which means it will probably be creamed by critics and make a jillion dollars. But really, standards are standards.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie has terrific if completely unbelievable special effects. The actors had fun, I guess. You might, too, if you like goofiness like this.

USA Today Claudia Puig

This sequel is what you would expect: If you liked the original, you'll probably enjoy this retread. But be warned: It bogs down in a drawn-out scene near the end. There's certainly nothing to treasure about this movie, but if a popcorn movie with moderate intrigue and occasional humor is what you're after, this is just the ticket.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Leave it to coproducer Jerry Bruckheimer to revive the Indiana Jones cycle without the period setting, the camp elements, or Spielberg's efficiency; director Jon Turteltaub just plods along, and the script by Marianne and Cormac Wibberley is equally poker-faced.

TV Guide Ken Fox

It shares all the original's shortcomings —--it’s too long and too loud and filled with historical disinformation -- but none of the snap that made "National Treasure" fun for kids and a guilty pleasure for some adults.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Everything has been significantly amped up -- bigger, louder, further removed from reality -- but it also feels that much more forced. Cage and Kruger seem like they're not having much fun this time around, and Bartha still gets the best throwaway lines.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

If there was an iota of plausibility to any of this, we could forgive the film's greater leaps of imagination - all those break-ins of absurdly unprotected bastions of Western civilization. But this is not audience-participation suspense. All you can do is sit and watch, and wish there was more wonder.

Empire Andrew Osmond

A turgid action sequel that loses sight of plot and characters in its humourless efforts to impress.

Film Threat Mark Bell

Is the film fun? Yeah, in that campy kind of "The Mummy" way, but it is also weak as a sequel in that very campy "The Mummy Returns" type of way.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Book of Secrets isn’t so much a romp as a long trudge through American history factoids and conspiracy-theory gobbledygook. Cool car chase, though.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

All you want from a movie like this, really, is a little brainless fun, and it keeps holding out on you. Everyone looks fatigued. Even Cage’s toupee seems ambivalent about having signed on for a sequel.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Like a grade-school version of an Indiana Jones adventure.

Premiere Eric Alt

The movie does feature a nice, teasing chemistry between veteran actors Voight and Mirren (who clearly relishes the chance to break out of stuffy melodrama), but this shallow, empty puzzle requires more than playful banter to satisfy audiences willing to pay to play.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

"Mindless" applies, and Book of Secrets is more like a tame, endlessly repetitive amusement park ride than a motion picture.

New York Post Kyle Smith

It's another flick about maps, landmarks and buried treasure that makes "The Da Vinci Code" look like TOLSTOY.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason McBride

Throughout all this, Cage's lazy, dull performance – who knew there were so many ways to express smugness? – is enlivened only by poorly timed bursts of exuberance.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.0 (out of 10) based on 107 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brandon T. gave it a6:
This movie was very similar to the original, providing a good amount of humor along with some great fantasy elements and an obvious sequel push at the end. I found it as entertaining as its prequel, finding the concept of the series oddly appealing even though the scripts and story lines seem to be shoddy.

George M gave it a2:
This is why ppl don't go to the movies anymore. This movie was just plain insulting to any logical mind. So many unbelievable situations- the car chase in London (where he uses a red light camera to take a picture of the clue, then tosses it overboard to get rid of the bad guys- come on), kidnapping the president, pouring water on the rocks to find the eagle....on an on...OMG someone in Hollywood was itching for their next dollar. Then they wander why ticket sales go down.

Christopher R. gave it a9:
I thought this was a great continuation of the first movie. They didn't make it obvious that they had discovered the first treasure... just the Ferrari. Great action and good puzzles. Must see!

Craig B gave it a6:
One of those movies that you know is bad, but it's still enjoyable as long as you approach it open minded and not expecting it to be anything great. Nicholas Cage is a dreadful actor, it has to be said. Film is childish and far fetched but for some reason I just enjoyed it start to finish. It's odd.

Dean P gave it a7:
Hey, I wasn't looking for sophisticated going into this movie so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for treasure hunts any day and this movie certainly delivers that.

Jay H. gave it a7:
6.5/10. Great popcorn movie. It's fun, fast paced and entertaining. It mixes adventure, humor and mystery very well. The acting is fine, well photographed and edited. It's not meant to be deep and significant. Just sit back and have fun.

Graham S. gave it a6:
Fun, but not a scratch on the first one.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets Walt Disney Pictures

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Walt Disney Pictures