National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jon Turteltaub

Writers (WGA):

Marianne Wibberley (screenplay) &
Cormac Wibberley (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary.

Plot Keywords:

Lincoln | Ledge | Painting | 1860s | Abraham Lincoln

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Ben Gates
Justin Bartha	...	Riley Poole
Diane Kruger	...	Abigail Chase
Jon Voight	...	Patrick Gates
Helen Mirren	...	Emily Appleton
Ed Harris	...	Mitch Wilkinson
Harvey Keitel	...	Sadusky
Bruce Greenwood	...	The President
Ty Burrell	...	Connor
Michael Maize	...	Daniel
Timothy V. Murphy	...	Seth
Alicia Coppola	...	FBI Agent Spellman
Armando Riesco	...	FBI Agent Hendricks
Albert Hall	...	Dr. Nichols
Joel Gretsch	...	Thomas Gates

Also Known As:

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (South Africa: English title) (DVD box title) (USA) (DVD box title)
National Treasure 2 (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some violence and action.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Australia:PG | Taiwan:PG-12 | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:PG | Norway:11 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG (certificate #43985) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:Atp | Germany:12 | Brazil:10 | South Africa:10M | South Africa:10V | Peru:PT | New Zealand:PG | Netherlands:12 | Denmark:11 | Canada:G (Québec) | Hong Kong:IIA | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London, England, UK

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

The script originally called for Mitch Wilkinson to stab Patrick Gates in the scene where they escape from the flooding gold city. This was taken out in post because it made the character "cross a line" that the director felt ought not be crossed. This is why there are almost no shots of Patrick Gates remaining in this scene: he was bleeding, and that's hard to hide. On a side note, the sweater he was wearing in the next scene had been ripped from the stabbing, and they were able to "unrip" his shirt with CG.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the car chase in London, the Mercedes always has British license plates, but for a split second one can see a German (Stuttgart) front license plate.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Barkeep: He's in the other room.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in In the Land of Women (2007)

Soundtrack:

Better Class of Losers

Decent film

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is a decent film. Nothing more, nothing less. I came out of the theater content, and yet by the next hour I'd forgotten much of what had taken place. Such is the case for most films now, however.

Compared to the first film, the plot is weak (certainly not as tightly drawn as the former) but the energy is the same and the humor is the same, and overall it's still as watchable as the first. Helen Mirren and Ed Harris were also very good, and somewhat surprising, additions to the cast.

Essentially, the movie is on the ridiculous/unbelievable side, but it's worth a watch. I don't think I'd pay another 10 dollars to see it again in theaters, but waiting for a rental will do.