A Brave Failure.

Rating: 6/10 (15 January 2005)

Jerry Bruckheimer. The undisputed king of the lavish Hollywood explosion. Chances are, if you find yourself sitting in a darkened room with a stupid smile on your face, having spent the last two hours watching things being blown up, your'e watching a Bruckheimer film ( or in jail. ) With National Treasure, I got the distinct feeling there was a concerted effort to mess with the formula. There are still explosive action scenes, pulsating chase sequences, and there is still a British bad guy, but there is also a semblance of a plot, and of due care taken in validating the historical aspects of the story. It is of course, mainly fantastical hokum, but crucially it never becomes farcical. This is down due to the actors investing a good deal of conviction into screenplay that lesser performers would have exposed as the creaky, unfocused mêlée of slapped together genre staples and cliché it is. Nicolas Cage for example, has proved himself as both a highly talented actor and a capable action hero, and is therefore well suited for this Indiana Jones meets Adam Hart-Davies role. While it seems that both the girl ( Diane Kruger ) and the techno-geek sidekick ( ? ) are both conjured directly from the stereotype store, there is guilty glee to be had in watching Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel slumming it so magnificently. Sean Bean is given far too little to do, and is in danger of reverting to the stock British villain that he spent his career playing until Boromir saved him. Ultimately, it's a formula action picture that tries bravely to restructure the formula and inject a little intelligence into the vein of mainstream cinema. The fact that it ultimately fails due to a weak script and a poor climax is a shame, and hopefully will not deter film-makers from attempting the same in the future.