In 1981 George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, coming off of The Empire Strikes Back and 1941 respectively, teamed up for the first time and delivered what would become a timeless tale of adventure called Raiders of the Lost Ark. It featured an archaeologist adventurer named Indiana Jones, a character who has become ingrained on people's memories for decades. It was a film that was inspired by the adventure serials of old in much the same way that Star Wars was just a few years earlier. Now, just as Star Wars changed the space epic, inspiring a generation of filmmakers (not to mention special effects), Raiders of the Lost Ark would go on to influence a generation of action/adventure films. It is hard to make one without having it compared to the classic. That brings us to a new series of films, National Treasure. The first one arrived in 2004, and was clearly designed as a present day Indiana Jones. It proved to be a hit, so 2007 brought us the sequel, which is now arriving on DVD.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is a fun action/adventure that fails to live up to the Indiana Jones series, but then that is a lofty standard that would be hard to reach. Still, as a straight-up popcorn muncher I found the movie to be quite entertaining. Watching it again on DVD, I have found it to be a touch more fun than when I saw it on the big screen. Perhaps due to the fact that I knew what to expect and just sat back and had a little bit of fun with it, but it seemed to work better on the small screen.

One of the best things about both National Treasure movies, is that they are fun adventures that are targeted at the entire family. In this day and age of PG-13 dominance, it would have been easy to add a little bit more violence or a touch of bad language to get the higher rating, and potentially a bigger audience. The filmmakers chose not to go that route and made a fast-paced adventure that is genuinely safe for the family. Parents do not need to worry about showing this to their kids. There is no language or innuendo, the violence is bloodless and no one dies, yet it still is exciting. See? It is possible to make a family-friendly film that people will like. Of course, I would have preferred a story that held a little bit more water.

This outing hinges on an accusation that Benjamin Gates' (Nicolas Cage) great-great-grandfather was one of the conspirators behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Gates does not plan on taking this lying down, he is a man who loves his family and his country and will not allow his ancestor's memory to be defamed in such a way. So off Gates goes, gathering his cast of supporting players from the first film, including Riley Poole (Justin Bhartha) and Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), to investigate the mystery of the missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, which triggered the Gates implication in the first place. Also joining the hunt are Gates' parents, played by Jon Voight and Helen Mirren, both bringing a touch of class to the film (particularly Mirren). And what are heroes without villains? On the other side of the quest is Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris), and they are all pursued by Agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel). Yes, the film has plenty of big name stars in the ensemble.