National Treasure
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Jumping on the DaVinci Code express back in 2004, Nicolas Cage delivered plenty of adventure and laughs in NATIONAL TREASURE.
I had not seen it since it's opening weekend in theaters, so it was a blast to see it back on the big screen on a recent Disney cruise.
Out of the gate, you KNOW this is a Jerry Bruckheimer film. The mega producer of "Top Gun", "Pirates of the Carribean" and "Bad Boys", he delivers a big budget thriller that keeps you on your toes while it hops from one fantastic location to the next.
Washington DC has never looked so ripe for treasure hunters.
Cage is at his best as Benjamin Franklin Gates, a historian who has spent his life chasing the legend of a Masonic/ Knights of the Templar lost treasure across the globe.
Gates latest wealthy benefactor behind the search is Ian Howe, perfectly played by Sean Bean of "Game of Thrones" and "Goldeneye" fame.
We see generations of the Gates family and realize that their quest has painted them as goofballs, with nothing to show for their multi-generational quest. I don't know about you, but if my Grandpa Gates was played by Christopher Plummer and told me to believe, I'm with Ben, I'm all in!
Of course, Ben's dad, Patrick (a great Jon Voight) tells him that its all a myth, a road to nowhere that he's wasted his life on.
In flashbacks, we see the fantastic treasure in ancient Egypt, then on its journey to America, where the founding fathers apparently hid it in their new national Capitol. It's a fun premise, well executed. But are the flashbacks real or just wishful thinking by ten generations of the Gates clan?
Diane Kruger (Inglorious Basterds) is Abigail Chase, a high profile guardian of Washington DC's secrets who gets sucked into Ben's wild plan.
Justin Bartha (The Hangover) is hilarious as Riley, Ben's young assistant who's appetite for adventure doesn't quite match his bosses. Bartha and Kruger serve up a lot of laughs as the wild quest unfolds and she did nearly all her own stunts, even in that wild car chase!
Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction) is at his mellow best as well, playing a Detective on Ben's elusive trail.
Cage is in his mainstream prime here, creating a character we can't help but cheer for, especially when he decides to steal the Declaration of Independence to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
Nobody creates a chase/caper/action flick quite like Bruckheimer and every bit of his $100 million budget is right here on screen. When the film grossed nearly four times that, a sequel was assured.
Sean Bean and Cage stage quite a duel as two men who will stop at nothing to get the Templar Treasure, dragging everyone in their orbit into the action.
I had forgot just how great the madcap conclusion was, blending Indiana Jones with a bit of James Bond.
Kudos to Director John Turteltaub (While You Were Sleeping, The Meg) for delivering fast paced fun that the whole family can enjoy together. He and Cage re-teamed three years later for the even bigger box office bonanza, "NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, which I need to watch again soon.
The original NATIONAL TREASURE serves up plenty of mystery and fun, along with wall-to-wall action and laughs, earning a very solid B+. After two decades, it was a pleasure to enjoy all of it's secrets revealed yet again.
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