Movie Review: National Treasure
In National Treasure, Nicholas Cage stars as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a man who comes from a family that, for generations, has been chasing the myth of a treasure. A treasure dating back to the beginning of mankind. A treasure so vast in riches that its value is untold. A treasure that has been hidden somewhere in the great land of America.
Clues leading to the treasure have been left throughout history by members of a secret cult known as the Masons, some of who moonlighted as the Founding Fathers of America. The Gates family has long been scorned by the historical community for following such a silly myth and a series of clues that have simply led to dead ends. Benjamin’s grandfather John Adam Gates (Christopher Plummer) passed on his passion for finding the treasure to his grandson but Ben’s father Patrick Henry Gates (Jon Voight) is very displeased that his son is seemingly wasting his time and this has led to a strained relationship. As Benjamin follows more clues and gets closer and closer to the treasure, time is of the essence as he must also fight off the “bad” treasure hunter named Ian Howe (Sean Bean) and a suspicious cop (Harvey Keitel). Along with his trusty sidekicks Riley (Justin Bartha) and the gorgeous Abigail (Diane Kruger), Benjamin gets closer and closer to the treasure that has eluded mankind for thousands of years.
It is not surprising that National Treasure, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by John Turteltaub (I laugh whenever I hear that name) is nothing more than a popcorn flick of the purest form. It’s just got so many of those moments that make you wonder how and why? And when and where for that matter. How is it possible for anyone to steal the Declaration of Independence? Why would anyone bother hiding this treasure worth untold billions? How did the Charlotte end up buried under the ice in the Arctic for years, only to be found by a group of treasure hunters who barely broke a sweat doing so? So many questions and so few answers. And yet the movie managed to keep up a decent pace, have a moderately interesting ending and introduce us to an extremely hot, young lady in Diane Kruger. It seemed to drag a little at the end, maybe a bit too long for this type of movie.
But it was an okay movie, forgettable for the most part but still entertaining enough to be a decent time to kill a few hours on a rainy (or snowy) afternoon. Definitely no Indiana Jones, no matter how hard it tried to be, but just don’t have high hopes and you should be “A” okay. (6 out of 10)
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