Treasure hunter Ben Gates (Cage) sets off on a new hunt, this time looking for proof that his ancestor was not involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. With only a page of the diary of assassin John Wilkes Booth to go on he must follow a trail of clues planted in the 19th century. Together with his assistant (Bartha), his estranged girlfriend (Kruger), his father (Voight) and mother (Mirren) he must try and race the shadowy Mitch Wilkinson (Harris), who has an agenda beyond simply showing that the Gates family is descended from traitors.

This film rolls neatly down the rails set down by the first National Treasure movie. While viewed from a distance the premise and plot is completely ridiculous, the film maintains such a momentum and seriousness about itself that you end up being caught up in the ride. As before, there are spectacular sequences in ancient catacombs. But there are also some good character moments, with Mirren's appearance adding something to the overall picture other than her own paycheck. If you liked the first, you'll enjoy this too. And if you missed the first film, come and enjoy this one anyway.

The Emperor's scheming brother has seized the throne with the aid of the Emperor's wife, the wicked Empress Wan (a delightfully, and rather unusually, sinister Ziyi Zhang). The Crown Prince Wu Luan, the rightful heir to the throne, is also marked for assassination. After a spectacular attempt on his life at the Ballet School-cum-monastery where he studies, Wu Luan returns to court to attend the formal banquet to celebrate his uncle's reign. There he shall have his revenge, if the Empress does not seize the throne first.

The Banquet is a very loose interpretation of �Hamlet�, Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedy, set in an arbitrary feudal Asian land. In the high art meets wire-fu tradition of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Banquet does a good job of capturing the backstabbing and treachery of the original play (while taking a lot of liberties along the way) and capturing it in the most beautiful manner possible. The martial arts in the film move like visual poetry rather than bloodthirsty action. The sets and spectacular cinematography that capture them are stunning. There is no doubting that the main course in this banquet is the visual feast, which is a dish that everyone should try.