SPOILER

You may have already heard that the plot had treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) looking to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by uncovering the mystery within the missing 18 pages of assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary.

That is what they are spoon-feeding us…

That is one boring ass logline.

Now what is it really about? What is the next National Treasure Ben is in search of?

In the first film, Ben Gates and his crew went looking for The Treasure of Knight’s Templar. In this one, Gates and crew are looking for…

…THE LOST CITY OF GOLD.

What is the Book of Secrets referred to in the title? Well, it ain’t the missing pages of Booth’s diary. Booth’s missing pages are the first clue they find that leads to other clues. In the first film, The Declaration of Independence held a clue, in the sequel, THE BOOK OF SECRETS is the super secret book only seen by THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. The Book of Secrets holds a clue to the whereabouts of The Lost City of Gold.

I don’t know why Disney has been secretive about the plot. We knew before seeing the first film that it was about the hunt for the mythical treasure of The Knight’s Templar. This whole Lincoln assassination angle is corny because that is NOT what the film is about. The Booth Diary is only a plot device, just like The Book of Secrets is a plot device also. The truth about the Lincoln assassination is actually a C story, or a very small a subplot. I wouldn’t go see a movie about the truth behind the Lincoln assassination. A movie about the hunt for the mythical Lost City of Gold… now that is a flick I would go and see.

Disney is doing themselves a disservice by being hush-hush about the real plot and misleading us with the Booth Diary angle. Which, like I said, is a very boring logline. Now, a logline about a treasure hunter looking for The Lost City of Gold is a high concept logline. Hey Mouse House, put it out there that this is really about the Lost City of Gold and watch motherfuckers turn out in droves opening weekend.

So is the script any good? Yes it is. I enjoyed the read and it is just as good as the first.

So who is back? Ben Gates, his dad Patrick Gates, his ex-girlfriend – yes EX-girlfriend Abigail Chase, his comic relief assistant Riley Poole, and the Harvey Keitel character Sadusky.

There is a new addition to the Gates clan who gets thrown into the fray. We meet Ben Gates mother – Emily!

Let’s take a quick look at Act I

We meet up with Ben Gates at Dry Tortugas – 70 miles west of Florida, where it is believed that in 1867, a supply steamer laden with Confederate gold sunk while on its way to Fort Jefferson Prison. Its mission was to bribe the guards and free the four conspirators in the Lincoln assassination who were imprisoned there. Gates finds the confederate gold coins but he also finds a pewter pin in a metal box with the letters KGC inscribed on it.

We find out in the next scene that KGC means the Knights of The Golden Circle. The pin proves that the KGC tried to help the conspirators escape and were likely part of the Lincoln Assassination as Gates' great-great-great grandfather Thomas Gates believed.

How did Thomas Gates know?

Thomas Gates met Booth and the following is our flashback/back-story scene.

Thomas Gates once met John Wilkes Booth in a tavern in Washington D.C. when it was still called Washington City, right after the civil war ended and just two days before Lincoln was assassinated. By 1865, Thomas had earned himself quite a reputation as a treasure hunter. When Booth introduced himself that night, Thomas didn’t want to be bothered but Booth was insistent. Booth claimed he had a treasure map, or actually, an encoded missive leading to one. The first word Thomas decoded was “Cibola” – Spanish for “The City of Gold.” An entire City made of Gold built Native Americans, seen only once by a shipwrecked Spanish slave in 1528 as reward for healing their ailing chief with his knowledge of herbs and medicines.

After that, the legend grew, and every great explorer who came to the new world – Pizarro, De Soto, Raleigh, -- came in search of it. But no one ever found it.

Thomas was amazed at what Booth showed him. It was impossible. He asked Booth how he got the cipher but Booth was evasive. Thomas realized Booth was part of the KGC and Thomas had heard rumors that the KGC was looking to finance a rebellion, which Thomas wanted no part of.

Thomas knew he couldn’t let Booth leave the tavern with that cipher so he did the only thing he could do, he grabbed a handful of pages, ripped them out of the diary and threw them into the fire. Pissed, Booth knocked Thomas Gates the hell out. Two days later, Booth would assassinate Lincoln.

Back to the present, we find out that Ben and Abigail are no longer together for reasons that are explained later.

INCITING INCIDENT: At a showing of the Templar Treasure (the treasure Gates and friends found in the first National Treasure movie) Gates meets JEB WILKINSON, who claims to be a descendant of the owner of The Tavern where the meeting between Thomas Gates and Booth happened. We find out here that supposedly Thomas Gates was down with the KGC after all. Ben Gates denies his Great-great-great Granddad had anything to do with them, but Jeb actually has one of the burnt pages from the diary, which reveals a clue.

It doesn’t take rocket science to know that Jeb may not be who he says he is or that his motives might not be purely scientific – ala the Sean Bean character of the sequel.

We later catch up with Riley Poole at a book signing of a self published book about the Templar Treasure and other myths. Riley isn’t doing so hot. His Ferrari has been impounded because he failed to pay his taxes on the cash he made from the Templar discovery. An audit resulted in a huge fine.

CALL TO ADVENTURE scene: Ben asks Riley for help. Abigail shows up to authenticate the Booth diary page. The next couple of pages are spent looking for the clue on the burnt diary page CSI style, like they were prepared to do in the last movie.

After they figure out the clue, they go to Papa Patrick’s house who helps makes sense of the clue and soon our adventurers CROSS THE FIRST THRESHOLD are they're off to France to figure out yet another clue.

End Act I. I think I spoiled enough of the plot without revealing the clues because the clues are what made the first film fun and they will make this one fun too. No fun in spoiling them.

Even though I know all the clues, the surprises and plot points, I’m still excited to see the film when it comes out at Christmas time. If you enjoyed the first film, I highly recommend catching the second one based on the script. It’s just as good as the first.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2007 13:35 schreef Woodpecker het volgende:
Ik niet, de eerste was al dramatisch slecht...

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Op woensdag 7 maart 2007 17:23 schreef SunChaser het volgende:
Was 10x beter dan t saaie Da Vincio Code

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Op woensdag 7 maart 2007 17:33 schreef -skippybal- het volgende:

[..]

Vergelijk het dat ook met een goede film.

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Op vrijdag 2 maart 2007 13:43 schreef -skippybal- het volgende:
Krijgt die kutfilm serieus een vervolg?

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Op dinsdag 3 april 2007 08:18 schreef Patch het volgende:
fotookes
http://justjared.buzznet.com/gallery/photos.php?yr=2007&mon=03&evt=national_treasure&pic=jon-voight-nicolas-cage-diane-kruger-justin-bartha-01.jpg

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Op dinsdag 3 april 2007 09:02 schreef Fargo het volgende:

[..]

Thnx!

Blijft een mooie meid zeg...

SPOILER

Die City of Gold was 80 jaar geleden dus al gevonden door de president, maar nu doen ze alsof Gates het heeft gevonden? En waarom destijds verborgen houden.

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Op maandag 14 januari 2008 08:53 schreef SunChaser het volgende:
Mitch was idd een slechte badguy, zeker toen we opeens symphatie moesten krijgen voor die man.

Wat ik btw niet snap

SPOILER

Die City of Gold was 80 jaar geleden dus al gevonden door de president, maar nu doen ze alsof Gates het heeft gevonden? En waarom destijds verborgen houden.

quote:

Op zaterdag 3 maart 2007 01:55 schreef zarGon het volgende:
Eerste ging nog wel... Vond het alleen zo, zo Amerikaans.