Doesn't live up to treasure movies from the past

Rating: 5/10 (4 July 2006)

I usually only write positive comments when I do but this is an exception. Since there have been treasure hunt movies around for a while, it is almost inevitable to compare. Although the cast was not bad in this movie, surely Indiana Jones and also National Treasure were much better. Indiana Jones had the tempo but still also the incomparable nostalgic atmosphere and the effects, where National Treasure was a more modern technique treasure hunt that made up for the lack of nostalgia by the intriguing scenes of e.g. stealing the Declaration itself. Well we have seen them all. The point I want to make is that this movie lacks the right tempo and atmosphere. Also the supposed chemistry between the couple was nowhere to be seen in this movie. The atmosphere was not there either. This despite the fact that the locations were nicely picked and the movie followed the book quite closely. What made the book entertaining was the tantalizingly slow solving of the riddles themselves and the smart flash-forwards. The couple was constantly chased but they didn't know it. In this movie they solved the riddles even quicker than in National Treasure. That took away what could have been the most entertaining part and also the only way to build up tension in this movie. I never had the feeling of being involved in it, nor in the panicky feeling of an endless chase for the grail and of having to stay out of the hands of the police. Probably an extra half an hour could have done the job to slowly build up the tension. In National Treasure there was indeed a beautiful treasure, but here the immensely important grail papers (who were not found in the book) looked more like some notebooks behind glass. They were just mentioned but the scene that showed them was too short. Also the vault behind the church, which according to the book is known but never dug up, could have been a great opportunity for a movie. Make it a night scene with trying to find the right brick to open the secret cellar beneath this church. Could have been a classic treasure hunt scene but this movie missed the opportunity.