Da Vinci in da U.S.A

Rating: 7/10 (28 November 2006)

National Treasure is so obviously inspired by the puzzle caper thriller phenomenon that was The Da Vinci Code, but without the main problems that would (and did) affect its reception in the Mid West: setting most of the story in cheese-eating surrender monkey land (France) and aggravating the god-botherers with various heresies about the Christian Church. But you know what, it's a much better movie because it knows its purpose is to entertain, not necessarily to reveal the supposed greatest cover up in human history. Nicholas Cage once again plays his reluctant, slightly unattractive but surprisingly adept action hero as he aims to convince the authorities that someone will be able to steal the 1776 American Declaration of Independence by, well, stealing the Declaration of Independence.
It's after this heist that the pace takes off. Cage has to stay one step ahead of the British, neatly echoing the root of the story, deliciously played as a bunch of working class English thugs led by Sean Bean, and also the law.
The chase leads the characters through a Da Vinci esquire series of codes, cyphers, secret passages and famous (to Americans at least) locations, with a smattering of real and imagined history. Curious to see the freemasons for once depicted as chivalrous heroes rather than a shifty bunch of overweight glad-handing businessmen.
Of course the delicious irony in this is that the treasure is not hidden on the back of the Declaration, it IS the declaration - the jewel of the 18th century Enlightenment, the spark that ignited the lamps of rationality, democracy, the division of powers and a secular state. The Declaration is America's great gift to humanity, and the story that the country 'without history' could also be hoarding a great stash of antiquity too is a delightful and enjoyable fantasy.