A Fun Action Adventure Popcorn Flick

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2005)

"National Treasure" was a film that I never got around to see when it was first released in theaters back on November 19, 2004 however it actually hung around for quite a long time and I was actually still able to see it tonight January 24, 2005 at the local multiplex. This is one of those movies like "Saw", which I watched last night for the first time that I could really kick myself for not running out and seeing. So continue reading to find out more about my opinion of "National Treasure".
"National Treasure" is a movie about a man named Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) who comes from a family of treasure seekers that have been hunting for most of their lives to find this hidden treasure. Ben finds leads to the treasure that no one else has or can figure out but this is when the trouble starts because the group of treasure seekers he's with try to kill him. It then turns to a battle of who's smarter and who can find their way to the treasure first, Ben, Riley (Justin Bartha), and Abigail (Diane Kruger) or the other team who backstabbed Ben. Lots of action and interesting questions ensue "National Treasure" stars Nicolas Cage. Nicolas Cage has two types of roles in his career award winning roles like "Adaptation" and "Matchstick Men" or action style roles like in "The Rock", "Con-Air", "Face-off", and this film "National Treasure", both of which he is terrific at. His performance in this film was fun, energetic, and smart. Nicolas Cage played the role very nicely. Also in the film is Cage's co-star Diana Kruger (Abigail) who was pretty much the only female in the entire movie and was the perfect match for Cage's character Ben as the smart and knowledgeable love interest (which I say very lightly because this story did not feature a love story. Thank God!). Also Justin Bartha (Riley) was the perfect sidekick who brought some chuckles into the story. Sean Bean played the bad guy Ian Howe and was very good at playing the bad guy role because I didn't like him from the moment he first came on the screen. Harvey Keitel was also involved as Police Detective Sadusky who was on the case and he played the cop role just fine but normally that's all we ever see Harvey in so I guess it's good he sticks to a role that he can play well. And finally Jon Voight also stars as Patrick Gates, Ben's father. He plays the concerning father role very well and I enjoyed seeing Mr. Voight in the film.
Four writers wrote this film, which normally scares me because most films that have more then two writers usually suck but I guess this one proves me wrong. Without going into details about their less than average careers so far, writers Oren Aviv, Charles Segars, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley, and Jim Kouf all had writing credits for this film. What I liked about the movie most was its script. I liked how the movie was rated PG and was still good for both adults and children a like. This movie has been compared to "Indiana Jones" in the sense of the story. I would have to agree to some extent. It was nice to know someone could throw together a screenplay, which was pretty intelligent but still managed to have lots of action and a few laughs. It was a breath of fresh air seeing a family film, which wasn't animated that we could all enjoy. All meaning adults and children a like. It was like "Indiana Jones" and "Back to the Future" in that sense. A film that didn't contain any sexual content, cursing, or any disturbing violence but still managed to make the audience stay glued to their seats and munch on their big bag of popcorn. I would also like to point out that the love story between Ben and Abigail was never developed which I really must say was a terrific move because it was like you knew they liked each other from the moment they first met each other but they didn't elaborate on it which was very nice to see.
"National Treasure" was directed by Jon Turtletaub who like the writers on this film has a less than average directing career, with movies on his resume including "The Kid", "While You Were Sleeping", and "3 Ninjas" which to me were all very lame. However he really out did himself with "National Treasure" because I must admit I was impressed with his directing on this film and his choice of locations and sets. It had a very "Indiana Jones" feel to it. Some shots where excellently shot like the scene underneath the church. I know the critics gave "National Treasure" average reviews Mr. Turtletaub but the American audience loved it. Keep the classic 80's adventure films alive and make more films like "National Treasure" So In Conclusion, I can't say anything really bad about "National Treasure." It was the perfect Popcorn movie, which was both good for adults and children. It had a good story and good characters. The film's acting or story doesn't feature anything that the Academy will be looking for that's why we have movies like "Sideways", "Million Dollar Baby" and "Hotel Rwanda". We have movies like "National Treasure" so we can sit back, relax, and have a good time. My advice is to just buy the biggest popcorn at the theater and sit back and enjoy the ride that's all I can say about this one. Enjoy it! MovieManMenzel's rating for "National Treasure" is an 8/10.