National Treasure: Book of Secrets
| National Treasure: Book of Secrets | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jon Turteltaub |
| Written by | Story by Jim Kouf Marianne & Cormac Wibberley Ted Elliott Terry Rossio Screenplay by Marianne Wibberly & Cormac Wibberly |
| Produced by | Jerry Bruckheimer Jon Turteltaub Oren Aviv Chad Oman Charles Segars |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage Diane Kruger Jon Voight Justin Bartha Harvey Keitel Helen Mirren Ed Harris Bruce Greenwood |
| Music by | Trevor Rabin |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
Release dates | Taiwan and Middle East: December 19, 2007 Australia: December 20, 2007 North America: December 21, 2007 United Kingdom: February 8, 2008 |
Running time | 123 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the 2007 sequel to the 2004 film National Treasure. It was directed by Jon Turteltaub and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
It was stated in the first film's commentary that there were no plans for a sequel, but due to the first film's impressive box-office performance, an earning of $347.5 million worldwide, a sequel was given the go-ahead in 2005.
The Motion Picture Association of America rated the film PG for some violence and action.[1] The film premiered in New York City on December 13, 2007 and was released in the Middle East, Korea and Taiwan on December 19, 2007. It was released in Australia on December 20, 2007. The film opened in the United States, Canada, Japan, Spain and Italy on December 21, 2007. It will be released in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2008.
Plot
Just after the end of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth and another man enter a bar and approach Thomas Gates (Ben Gates' great-great grandfather). They produce a diary containing an encrypted message, and entice Thomas, a known puzzle solver, to decode it. Thomas recognizes the message as using the Playfair cipher and begins to translate it. While he does so, Booth leaves for the theater to assassinate President Lincoln. Thomas Gates solves the puzzle, a clue to a treasure map, and realizes the men are still loyal to the Confederate cause and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure. The Confederate man pulls a gun on him, threatening to shoot him if he doesn't hand over the diary, however he is distracted from Gates' by the chaos errupting in the bar over news of Lincoln's assassination. Thomas rips several pages from the diary and throws them in the fireplace. The second man shoots him and attempts to retrieve the pages, only succeeding in saving a small piece. The dying Gates gasps, "The war is over," but the man disagrees, stating, "You're wrong about that, the war has only just begun," and rushes from the bar. With his dying breath, Thomas Gates says to his young son, "The debt that all men pay."
Years later, Benjamin Gates is telling his great-great grandfather's story at a conference on Civilian Heroes to great acclaim until black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson shows one of the eighteen missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, collected by the man who killed Ben's Grandfather, with Thomas Gates'name on it, convincing everyone that Gates was the mastermind behind the Lincoln assassination. Ben Gates sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great grandfather.
Using spectral imaging, Ben discovers a cipher pointing to Édouard Laboulaye hidden on the back of the diary page. He travels to Paris, where he finds a cryptic clue engraved on the torch of the French Statue of Liberty, referring to the two Resolute desks. Ben heads to Buckingham Palace, seeking out the closer of the two desks. With the help of his friend Riley Poole and estranged girlfriend, archivist Abigail Chase, he is able to sneak into the Queen's office to find an ancient wooden plank hidden in the desk. He is then pursued by Wilkinson, who, having broken into his father Patrick Gates' house, has cloned Patrick's cell phone in order to track Ben's whereabouts. Wilkinson eventually obtains the piece, but not before Ben manages to photograph the glyphs carved into the plank.
At Gates' insistence, Patrick reluctantly asks his ex-wife for help in translating the mysterious glyphs. She does so, but points out that some of the glyphs are partial, leading Ben to conclude another plank must be hidden in the other Resolute desk, which is located in the Oval Office. With the unknowing help of Abigail's new boyfriend, who works for the White House, Ben and Abigail coax their way into the office to see the desk, where Ben discovers that the second plank is missing. However, he does find a stamp bearing the seal of the Book of Secrets. According to Agent Sadusky, the Book of Secrets contains documents collected by Presidents for Presidents' eyes only, covering such controversial subjects as the JFK assassination and Area 51.
To find the location of the book, Ben forces the President's birthday party to be held at Mount Vernon by booking all other approved locations. When Ben sneaks into the party, he convinces the President to follow him into a secret tunnel under the house where he confronts him about the book. The President tells him the location of the book in the Library of Congress and tells him to read page 47 as well as the information he needs. In the book, Ben finds a picture of the plank from the desk and a note saying that President Coolidge found it in 1924 and had the Mount Rushmore monument built to hide the treasure.
At Mount Rushmore, Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick meet Mitch (who has kidnapped Ben's mother). Mitch provides a clue to the entrance of a cave containing the legendary native American city of gold, Cibola. However, one person has to stay behind to hold a crank that keeps a door open. Mitch forces everyone to let him go first, but rising water forces him to be the last person left. Ben tries to help him out, but Mitch can't come to Ben without the door closing. Mitch decides to sacrifice himself and allow the others to escape the flooding cavern, and Gates agrees to give him credit for finding the treasure. Gates clears his family's name with the discovery and is cleared of all charges when the President tells everyone he was cooperating with Ben. Ben also ensures Mitch receives joint credit for the find. The President then asks Ben about what he read on page 47 of the Book of Secrets; Ben replies, "It's life-altering."
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Ben Gates
- Justin Bartha as Riley Poole
- Diane Kruger as Abigail Chase
- Jon Voight as Patrick Gates
- Harvey Keitel as FBI Agent Peter Sadusky
- Helen Mirren as Emily Appleton Gates
- Ed Harris as Mitch Wilkinson
- Bruce Greenwood as US President
Historic locations
The following sites appear in the film:
- Mount Rushmore
- The Library of Congress
- White House
- Buckingham Palace
- Mount Vernon
- Ford's Theatre
- University of Maryland, College Park
Reception
Critics initially gave the film mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 35% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 81 reviews, for a rating of "rotten".[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 49 out of 100, based on 23 reviews.[3] It opened at number one with $16,500,000 on its first day,[4] and $45,106,000 its first weekend,[5] the third largest Christmas opening.[6] It has stayed at number one every day, and has so far grossed $65,000,000 during its five day run,[5] 56% more than its predecessor at the same time.[7]
Novelization
Disney Press published an official novelization of the screenplay titled National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets The Junior Novel on November 6, 2007.[8] Parts of the story in the novel version differ slightly from what was actually filmed, owing to changes being made in the screenplay prior to and during production. For example, in the novel, Ben and Abigail photograph the wooden plank found hidden in the Queen's desk and leave it behind, with the car chase following. But in the movie, they take the plank with them on the chase. Also published on the same day was a companion youth novel Changing Tides: A Gates Family Mystery. Its story is set in England in the year 1612 and is the first in a series of planned historical novels about the Gates family. The epilogue from Changing Tides is included at the back of the National Treasure book.[9]
References
- ^ "National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) - Movie Info". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
- ^ "National Treasure: Book of Secrets". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
- ^ "National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- ^ "National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- ^ a b "National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) Daily Breakdown". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- ^ "'National Treasure' Leads Christmas Rush". Box Office Mojo. 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
- ^ "National Treasure (2004) Daily Breakdown". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2005-03-13.
- ^ "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets The Junior Novel". Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Changing Tides (National Treasure: Book of Secrets)". Retrieved 2007-11-28.