An entertaining matinée movie. See it!

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2004)

You'll be pleasantly surprised if you see this movie without expecting too much. It's entertaining, good Saturday-matinée material. It reminded me of an Indiana Jones romp, updated for the repartee of the average "Alias" episode. In fact, a genealogical study might reveal linkage between Alias' Marshall Flinkman and NT's Riley Poole. One mold for those two.
The formula for this movie will permit as many sequels as viewers are willing to pay to see. Any icon, symbol or event that could be misinterpreted or misunderstood is what makes the movie work. For National Treasure I, the back of the dollar bill, secret societies (reborn in The DaVinci Code) and a good conspiracy theory unleashes a plot line. 'National Treasure 5' might take the Microsoft Logo, the 'you've got mail' voice and a conspiracy theorist to discover Elvis lives on. Whatever... it yields a grand chase scene that wiles away two hours with good, old-fashioned, don't-think-too-much entertainment.
And that's EXACTLY what I was in the mood to see this particular Saturday afternoon! 7 out of 10.