National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) and his father (Jon Voight) are back, trying to clear an ancestor of complicity in the Lincoln assassination—and, of course, find a treasure. Somehow, the two goals are connected, but we never see how; the too-many-cooks script (by Cormac and Marianne Wibberly, Gregory Poirier, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) is an insane Rube Goldberg farrago that’s impossible to follow for ten minutes at a time. There’s some fun in Cage’s banter with Diane Kruger (also back, still spunky) and Justin Bartha (though the writers make tactless jokes about his character being a mere hanger-on); some excitement from director Jon Turteltaub; and extra acting chops from Ed Harris (as a sort-of-villain) and Helen Mirren (as Cage’s professor mother); but the budding franchise seems already out of steam.