Fun but way too busy

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2009)

If you thought the first NT movie left you gasping for aid, wait until you get a load of the followup, which takes our intrepid trio of treasure hunters (Cage, Kruger and Bartha) all over the map, including to England, D.C. and whichever Dakota Mount Rushmore is in. This time, they are seeking clues to restore the tarnished name of a forbear (don't ask). This involves tracking down a lost city of gold, of all things. Hey, it's a kid's movie! The plot rushes from here to there, a little too much so, and there are plot holes as big as the Grand Canyon. Also, Cage seems a bit long in the tooth for such nonsense. But hey, it's a kid's movie! The only question is, will a kid be willing to sit through the whole thing? The director and writers take no chances, by the way, and give us much the same death-defying finale as that in the first movie. Hey! It's a kid's movie! Keep telling yourself that. Helen Mirren plays cage's mom and Bruce Greenwood is the president, and they give this silly but likable film some badly needed dignity.