Nicholas Cage Seems Bored

Rating: 5/10 (13 September 2010)

National Treasure is a lot of things. Fun entertainment is not one of them.
Nicholas Cage and I have a peculiar relationship. I have seen him do great work (Kick-Ass, Adaptation) and I have seen him in less than admirable roles (this movie, its sequel). He doesn't really give a *bad* performance, but he doesn't really put in a lot of effort. He rolls over the historical information sounding like a guy who's trying to sound smart but has no idea what he's talking about. And for much of the movie, he acts lazily and with low energy. His friend in this movie, played by Justin Bartha, had a far more interesting personality. He was funny and entertaining. He was easily the most charming and fun to watch actor on the screen. That almost seems like a sad commentary when one considers the other actors he's sharing the screen with, like Jon Voight, Christopher Plummer, and Harvey Keitel.
Basically, National Treasure is stupid, a poor man's Indiana Jones. The difference is that it has none of the intense action, excitement, or intelligence of an Indiana Jones movie. It has its moments, and at times is pretty fun to find out the mysteries with the lead characters. But at nearly every turn, I am going "Oh, come on! Are we really expected to believe that our forefathers were busy with all these intricate hiding plans instead of fighting the revolution??" Yeah, that part doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, does it? The forefathers had this *huge* treasure at their disposal and they hid it for over three hundred years instead of passing it along later?
The villains are generic and uninteresting, the love interest is just token, and Nicholas Cage seems bored through most of the movie. The only two actors who put forth any effort are Jon Voight and Justin Bartha. They at least acted like they were trying and that they cared. I didn't get that from anyone else. And the action scenes in this movie were borderline pathetic. What passes off as action in this movie comes off lazy, incompetent running around and chasing.
What made this movie worth watching once was the screenplay. Was it great? No. Was it interesting? Fairly. It did have some creativity put into it, but it would be ridiculous if it didn't. It was written by three people, which doesn't really show in the final product. But the screenplay was at least competent. Final verdict: this is not a movie I recommend. It can be fun at times, but most of the time it's just rather silly.
5/10