"National Treasure: Book of Secrets"
GRADE: C-
REVIEWED BY DNA SMITH Special to Florida Weekly

Time: 124 minutes
MPAA rating: PG

I must confess, I avoided the first "National Treasure" movie because I thought it looked like a lame ripoff of "The Da Vinci Code." Which is saying a lot, because "The Da Vinci Code" is one of the worst books I've ever read and an even lousier movie.

So, you can imagine what I thought of "Book of Secrets."

It's not as bad as "The Da Vinci Code," but it certainly is a sloppily written, convoluted mess that wastes the talents of some outstanding actors like Nick Cage, Jon Voight and Helen Mirren.

Cage reprises his role as Benjamin Franklin Chase, an archaeologist-hero character who couldn't hold Indiana Jones' hat. Chase must find a legendary pre-Columbian city of gold in order to clear the name of an ancestor who is accused of being an accomplice in the murder of Abraham Lincoln. Yeah. I don't get it either.

Chase and his crew follow a string of clues that lead to kidnapping the current president, breaking into Buckingham Palace and discovering the existence of a secret book that only presidents know about. The book contains, among other things, the truth behind Area 51, the JFK assassination and something mysterious on page 47 that will be explored in the third film.

I didn't expect much from "Book of Secrets," and that's what I got. Truth be told, though, I really, really wanted to be surprised and delighted by the movie. I wanted another Indiana Jones type of movie that I could be a fan of.

With a better writer and director, there may be hope for the third installment.

(c) 2008 King Features Synd., Inc.