Just too much to handle

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2006)

This is a big splashy movie, full of chases and escapes. It takes a page from books like "The DaVinci Code." Our national treasures are clues to more profound things. Those Freemasons are at it again. The theft of the Declaration of Independence should be easy; like breaking into Fort Knox. I just wish that more effort was made to explain how a bunch of buffoons are guarding this national treasure, where a guy with a phony copy can exchange it. I don't dislike the movie; I just want the writers to make it more complex. Cage, whom I really like as an actor, and his cohorts dance around, trying to find this deep dark secret. Where did they get so much expertise? I know about the original document that leads to their efforts, but there are things like secret compartments, anti theft devices, armed guards who know what they are doing. Then there are the bad guys. Why are they there? How did they just happen to show up? It's because you need someone other than the federal government to be the adversary. Someone with motives like yours, trying to get at the stash, before you.
I did enjoy the theater experience because I was in the mood for a big adventure movie. But at the end, I wasn't on the edge of my seat like I should have been. And a few days later, it became pretty forgettable. It's too bad we can't remake movies and work a few of the weaknesses.