Piece together the puzzle.

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2005)

Fun and fast paced adventure that lets you, the viewer, figure out the riddles.
I enjoyed almost every minute of this movie. There did not appear to be a second of wasted film, nor did it leave you with the feeling that half the movie (the good half, even) was left on the cutting room floor.
Honestly, Nicholas Cage has never been a favorite of mine. His movies were always good, but the content he chooses tends to bounce between comedy and dark drama. I do not like him as a comedic actor, and I am not into any kind of drama. I prefer horror itself over the imitation that is dark drama; good comedy, adventure, or action. In this attempt, he delivers a quick and quirky sense of humor which he uses to great effect in this role as a hereditary "treasure-protector."
SPOILERS
This vehicle begins in ancient Egypt (briefly), then quickly whisks you forward to the American Revolution (again touching briefly) before bringing you to Cage's character's childhood where he first hears the family legend.
We are transported once more to the here and now to find Cage's character Gates following the clues, solving the riddles, and utilizing that superior intellect. But there is treachery afoot, and Gates's partner decides he could do better on his own. The only problem with that is that the partner is the one with the money, and Gates has all the answers.
This premise is based heavily on the mythology of the Freemasons and the Knights Templar. In ancient times, the Knights Templar grew so wealthy that the Catholic church became fearful of being usurped as the heaviest influence over the principal lawmakers and ordered the Templar's wealth to be distributed (of course, the Roman Catholic church took a goodly sum, themselves, to administer this distribution) among other such organizations.
In modern times, the Knights Templar sit at the top of the Freemason ladder. They are the sole members who are aware of the underlying agendas of the Masons.
This work touches on this knowledge but throws a seriously pro-Mason slant on the entire work. Politically speaking, this movie was more a 100-minute political plug for anyone who is in the Skull and Bones Society than it was a movie for simple entertainment.
That having been said, however, this was a very fun movie. Not only was it fun, it was fast and it was VERY funny. We thoroughly enjoyed our viewing of this work. Everyone in the theater was having a blast. Here in Redneck/hillbilly Eastern Tennessee, there is not a lot of laughing or booing going on in the small home town theater. Everyone is too uptight to just relax and enjoy themselves here, for some reason. We do not have that problem, being transplants rather than "locals," but of course that means we have to endure the strange stares which subsequently come when Phreaks venture out into the "str8" world during the daylight hours.
Now, it is a given that this is no Indiana Jones contender, and there were not even half the elaborate sets featured in the Laura Croft movies. But as is the way of good old-fashioned mysteries, this was great fun to puzzle out. Except for that first riddle, we stayed about 30 seconds ahead of Gates in solving everything else.
This was, as I said, fun, fast, witty, and extremely entertaining.
It rates a 8.4/10 from...
the Fiend :.