I loved National Treasure. Guilty pleasure though it may be, the movie is a lot of fun; fun enough that it pretty much ruined things for The Da Vinci Code which used similar tactics but wasn’t nearly as entertaining. Since they announced a sequel in the works I wondered what they could do to make a logical sequel. After all, if Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) was driven by finding this ancient treasure his family was keyed into, and he found the treasure, what’s the impetus for another adventure?

The new trailer for National Treasure: Book of Secrets shows exactly what that reason is: to clear his family name. Apparently the Gates family is linked to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln as one of John Wilkes-Booth’s conspirators and now it’s up to Gates to find the “Book of Secrets”, a book that holds all of our countries mysteries and is for the president’s eyes only. The plot makes perfect sense – the family name and a sense of patriotism will continue to guide Gates.

As with all good sequels, the new trailer looks like the movie is raising the stakes with more impressive effects and challenges. We also get a few of Riley’s quips which made the first movie so amusing. It looks like the sequel is on the right trail. Take a look at the new trailer, in Quicktime, to judge for yourself:

Click to see the new trailer for National Treasure: Book of Secrets