Lots of explosions but no sparks

Rating: 1/10 (19 May 2005)

The problem with this movie is not that it is completely implausible, though it certainly is that; my willing suspension of disbelief dropped out completely after the first five minutes. No, the problem with this movie is Nicholas Cage, who has all the charisma, sex appeal, and sly wit of a stuffed eagle. Even so it might have worked, except that the other problem is the detailed, repetitive plot exposition, which is laborious at best and tedious at worst. It's fun watching the characters work their way up the East Coast from one famous landmark to the next, but after a very few minutes it starts to feel like a children's scavenger hunt. It doesn't help that instead of emotional sparks between the characters we get lots of explosions and some really awful dialogue. By the time the movie was over I was hoping that the ceiling would collapse and everybody involved in this movie would be buried along with the treasure, but alas, no such luck.