brainwashing+moneymaker+stupid

Rating: 1/10 (6 February 2005)

I am not one of those snobby critics that automatically badmouth all things commercial. I think naiveté and simplicity can be entertaining sometimes. But National Treasure managed to wake up the subjectivity and snobbery in me, because it is THAT bad.
1. The Freemasons and the Templars are presented as some kind of saviors of history, some mysterious philanthropists. In fact, they presumably were/are responsible for some of the most terrible crimes in history, right there with Stalin and Hitler. The crusades were unjustified attacks on the East, just like Vietnam and Iraq today (yes, I agree with those IMDb commentators that wrote about this parallel).
2. "The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining tool. Not for me", or something like that. Not only that it is propaganda, but it is active and brutal propaganda. That "not for me" is like an accusing finger pointed at the audience. Maybe I am being a bit paranoid here, but it is propaganda nevertheless.
3. The actors did a surprisingly good job, but they should have skipped this one for the moral implications.
4. I live in a ex-Comunist country and every time I see American nationalism and patriotism, it surprises me how similar it is to the Comunist one. Believe me, it is. I am not saying that America is not be praised for its obvious qualities, but believe me, extremism is the same, regardless of political beliefs.
5. Museums that were not shown in the movie: "How we stole the land from the Indians Museum" "How we promoted slavery Museum" "How we kill our Presidents if they become undesirable Museum" Don't get me wrong, I appreciate America for its qualities, but it does have the tendency to be pretty defensive about the negative aspects.
6. My 1/10 has nothing to do with the actors or the work that went in this movie, just with its sheer stupidity.