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| National treasure (2004) | |
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Treasure hunting is an intriguing notion often connected with suspense and adventure when viewed on film.
National Treasure is such a film, which intends to trigger suspense while providing a fantastic adventure through the mysterious freemasons, history, and the founding fathers.
The audience which sits down to enjoy this venture undertaken by Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage) and his partner Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) will unfortunately have placed
it's foot in the wrong adventure, as this concoction will neither be suspenseful nor adventurous.
Instead, the viewer will go through a repetitive journey of clue solving
where the story’s hero seems to be a know-it-all, whereas previous generations seem to have been struggling through their lifetime with what he finds to be simple.
When Ben was a young teen, he heard from his grandfather (Christopher Plummer) about a fantastic adventure regarding a hidden treasure uncovered by some knights during the crusades. This treasure was deemed too vast and rich for any king, or person, which caused people to hide it in the first place. When the Templar Knights found it under the Temple of Solomon, they swore to hide and protect the treasure. The knights brought the treasure to Europe, and later to the New World. This brief introduction to the treasure serves the purpose of explaining Ben’s obsession with the treasure, but it is also the best part of the film that regrettably dwindles hereafter. For the rest of the film the audience gets to follow the camera while it moves with Ben who travels between different historical sites on the quest for another clue of the treasures whereabouts. This turns into a rather tiresome event, as the story seems to cover it up with grand larceny and mean thugs that are not so mean. Additional awkwardness generates from the lack of suspense, as everything, even the difficult parts of the film, seem to move smoothly. The film also provides a sense of comfort and ease, which does not belong in the atmosphere with lethal crooks and the FBI breathing down their necks. The director Jon Turteltaub's creation is a cheesy adventure film that fails to compare to many other treasure hunt films such as It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Goonies (1985), and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). Some level of cheesiness is to be expected, but National Treasure does not try to venture in that direction intentionally and instead leaves the viewers feeling somewhat cheated in the end. This is mostly because the protagonist in the film knows it all, and delivers methodically an answer to all questions. The roller coaster that the film offers is without the steep hills that parents safely can send their children through while most children will enjoy this film before they learn that film can be so much more. |
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DIRECTED BY |
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| Jon Turteltaub | |
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USA |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 5/3/2005 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
