brilliant film

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2005)

i absolutely love this film!!! i am studying film in university, so it becomes really easy to criticise films for being too clichÃ©, too o.t.t or whatever. But when you watch films like this you have to forget your theories on intelligent film-making and just sit back and enjoy the ride!! that is what this film is all about. Yeah so what if there are cheesy one liners in the middle of a deadly fight, and endless clips of British guys chasing Americans all over the place. WE ARE HUMAN, THIS IS WHAT WE LIKE!!! Nicholas Cage plays the character which i think he is born to play in this film. The nerdy but quite cool guy which reminds you of his part in the Rock. Shaun Bean is the architypal bad guy opposite him and, together (with Gates's sidekick Riley (played surprisingly well by Justin Bartha)) they rip it up Indiana Jones style, in a film that you can watch again and again (I have already seen it 3 times) More seriously, there is fantastic camera work in there (watch out for the shots of the declaration of independence) and a very sound plot.
So basically, to watch this film you need to forget any opinions u have on what is needed to bring film forward. If you are British, you need to forget how annoying American patriotism is, and just enjoy this film for the 2 hours or so you will be watching it for.