| Product: |
National Treasure (DVD) |
| Date: |
13/05/08 (164 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Solid acting, fun storyline, interesting ideas, fast-paced action
Disadvantages: Very silly and unbelievable in places
National Treasure (2004) - FILM ONLY REVIEW
Certificate: PG (UK) / PG (USA) / PG (Ireland)
Run time: 131 minutes
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Main cast:
Ben Gates - Nicholas Cage
Abigail Chase - Diane Kruger
Riley Poole - Justin Bartha
Ian Howe - Sean Bean
Patrick Gates - Jon Voight
Special Agent Sadusky - Harvey Keitel
As someone with an interest in history and archaeology, it is perhaps not surprising that I enjoyed the cheerfully silly Disney action adventure "National Treasure". Something of a sleeper hit when it was first released, this film was enjoyed by audiences but widely slated by critics; hardly surprising given that this is more family entertainment than Oscar contender, and the plot can get about as unbelievable as it is possible for any film to get in certain places. "National Treasure" is an old-fashioned adventure story, combining an exciting mix of the derring-do plot style of Indiana Jones with the historical manipulation and manic puzzle solving of the Da Vinci Code. What this film doesn't have, however, is the same exotic locations for the heroes to go tomb-raiding in. An intriguing blend of historical fact and fantasy, "National Treasure" is built on solidly American foundations; however, they are foundations that should still be sufficiently familiar for most non-US audiences to enjoy this romp through the United States' foundations. Rest assured that you hardly need be an expert in American history to understand or appreciate this movie, and if you can leave all sense of logic at the door, then it is actually very hard not to have a damn good time watching "National Treasure".
The film opens to an enigmatic puzzle. Ever since trusted servant Thomas Gates was told a remarkable story of lost treasure and handed a cryptic clue by the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence, successive generations of the Gates family have been trying to decode the clue and discover the location of this fabled horde. Given that it was said to be the lost treasure of the Templars, hidden by the Freemasons to protect it from the British during the Civil War, it is not hard to see how the Gates family have acquired a reputation amongst academics as a bunch of crackpot conspiracy theorists and half-baked treasure hunters. However, inspired by this story as a boy, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) grows up to be a maverick historian driven to solving the riddle and redeeming his family name. With the help of his wise-cracking assistant Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), Ben makes a key breakthrough in understanding the clue bequeathed to his family: that the Founding Fathers left an invisible treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence, trusting that the document's significance would ensure the survival of this information. However, he has more than just the heavy security surrounding this document to contend with; the (quite understandable) opposition of Declaration archivist Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) to his potential violation of the artefact, the scepticism and doubt of his jaded father Patrick (Jon Voight), and the superior wealth and resources of Ben's former financier, the ruthless treasure seeker Ian Howe (Sean Bean). Things don't improve much when the FBI, led by Special Agent Sadusky (Harvey Keitel), just happens to notice that a major historical document has gone missing from the National Archives. So begins a breathless adventure across, through (and occasionally under) several major monuments from American history as Ben and co race to find America's national treasure before being caught or beaten to their goal.
The idea of writing a plot around the most familiar points in American history is a clever and interesting one, and is one of the film's greatest strengths. The wild theories at the heart of the story and their links to genuine events, people and locations provide not just a solid base for the wackier things that happen along the way - and therefore making them appear not quite so ridiculous - but also give Hollywood an excellent opportunity to explore the dreams and ideals on which the United States was built in a fashionably patriotic manner, whilst still delivering big budget thrills along the way (as you may well expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer film). However, while I might be justified in calling it clever in some places, subtle is one thing that "National Treasure" is certainly not. I think it is no coincidence that the villain of the piece is British, an obvious and simplistic attempt to reflect the opposition to colonialism that brought the Declaration of Independence about in the first place. Yet this idealistic stance is also something of a weakness. While most treasure hunt (or, in this case, history presented as treasure hunt) stories have a map that leads to great wealth, in this film the map is itself an item of great value that is worth at least as much as the horde to which it leads (at least to Ben, Abigail and Riley). Rather than have the courage of its convictions, though, Hollywood demands that there must be something at the end of the film to satisfy the viewing public, a pay-off more bankable and tangible than high minded words on an old piece of paper; I guess it is a case of the film having its cake and eating it too (with golden icing on top).
While the ideas behind the film may be good and the acting solid, a lot of the dialogue feels merely functional, although it is lightened by Riley's regular wise-cracking. Given that the story moves along at a cracking pace, however, you will soon forget that you are being given what effectively amounts to a history lecture in places as you get swept along by an ever-changing string of events, discoveries and new clues - although at 131 minutes you don't feel that you are being rushed through an overly short or insubstantial story. One of the most refreshing elements about "National Treasure" is that it eschews the usual high body count and bloodletting of Hollywood action movies. How wonderful to have a full-bodied adventure film that doesn't involve anyone being killed, and in which none of the heroes picks up a gun. Think about that for a moment: a blockbuster action film in which the hero never fires a shot. How often do you see that? The good guys - whilst being suspiciously beautiful, toned and well dressed for academics - win the day by using their brains rather than being more violent than their adversaries. It is a film that makes being smart cool, and the only remotely scary parts are purely Scooby-Doo in construction, making it a great film for kids to watch and enjoy without their parents worrying (and for parents to watch without being bored by the tawdry exploitative dross that often passes for children's entertainment).
I would love to give this film 5 stars for sheer fun and entertainment value, but the aforementioned silliness and testing of my suspension of disbelief suggest 4 stars would be more accurate (which means I like it slightly more than IMDB, whose raters have currently attributed it a mark of 6.8/10). Take an early scene where Ben and Riley hunt for a clue in an old wooden ship buried under arctic ice, for example. Despite the ship's age and apparent fragility, it (and everything significant on it) have survived sinking or being crushed to pieces by the weight and movement of the ice for a good two hundred years, and it remains obligingly near the surface, just waiting for someone to come along with a metal detector and find it. It is entirely hokey and shamelessly popularist. Strangely, however, I find that I don't care. While I might be getting rather fed up of the Templars featuring in just about every archaeologically themed film going (I wish someone would find another source of treasure/ plots/ secrets/ conspiracy theories), "National Treasure" even managed not to bug me on that point. Approach "National Treasure" in the mood to have a good time and not bother about unimportant things such as logic and historical integrity, and it will be two hours well spent.
Recommended.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368891/
Official website: http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/natio naltreasure/
Summary: Indiana Jones meets the Da Vinci Code meets Tomb Raider
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