A Fast Paced Adventure that gives a bang for the buck

Rating: 6/10 (21 January 2008)

The first National Treasure movie about hidden Templar treasure and clues dating back to founding of the United States was although far-fetched, a very interesting movie. In the second adventure, Nicholas Cage, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha reprise their roles to solve a maze of ciphers and monuments dating back to the American Civil war.
Just at the end of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth hands a cipher to Ben Gates’ great grandfather just as he heads out to shoot President Lincoln. As he deciphers, Gates learns that the cipher leads to an ancient treasure which the confederate better not lay their hands on and destroys those 18 pages.
Cut to present, Ben Gates is talking about Civil War heroes when a black marketer Wilkinson (Ed Harris), quite an effective villain, produces a partly burnt page from the Booth Diary with the old Gates’ name on it as one of the architects of the assassination. Ben Gates gets into a treasure hunt and attempts to clear off his ancestor’s name.
To assist Benjamin Gates are his trusted team Justin Bartha as Riley Poole and Diane Kruger as his estranged girlfriend Abagail Chase. This time the adventure takes you through Paris, Buckingham Palace, The Oval Office, yeah one at the White House and Kidnapping of the President, Library of Congress and Mount Rushmore! Whew! The movie casts three Academy Award Winners Cage and Jon Voight & Helen Mirren as Cage’s parents. While Jon Voight has got a larger role this time, Helen Mirren seemed too old for her role. The lead characters simply repeat their roles. When you see them solving clues one after another, it doesn’t surprise as you’ve seen it all before.
For those who head to the movie hall with expectations just as much as its predecessor, you will come out happy. If you prefer using too much of logic, you would laugh at the idea of a city of gold under a hill. All said and done, I have all admiration for American movie makers to turn out fashionable adventures with a nationalist feel.