So much fun that I forgot how bad it was supposed to be.

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2004)

"National Treasure" is as bad as all the negative reviews say--stoopid story full of preposterous situations and events, with dumb dialog.
I enjoyed every minute of it.
For me, it was an excellent guilty pleasure. It was fast-paced, so I never had time to dwell on such silliness as Nicholas Cage digging for 30 seconds into the snow near the north pole and finding--not just the lost ship he was hunting, but the ship's name plate so he didn't have to wonder for one second what he'd found! But I didn't care! And every explosion and other disaster was telegraphed ahead, BUT I DIDN'T CARE! All the torches left in the secret cave for 150 years burned upon being lit as tho they had been soaked in kerosene yesterday! BUT I DIDN'T CARE! I found it smoothly edited and so event-filled that I just got carried along. Diane Kruger (Helen in "Troy") once more is an ice queen who can't act, but every time she was on screen there was a closeup of her gorgeous model's face, so I DIDN'T CARE! Sean Bean, playing the villain, who was the only actor present, performed in proper evil fashion, and I liked Cage's sorta comic-relief sidekick. Never mind the plot: it's irrelevant.
The bottom line is that while I was watching the dang flick, I was recognizing everything that was wrong with it and simultaneously realizing that I was enjoying the experience. It was wonderful mindless fun!