National Treasure
Given a plot involving arcane riddles, ancient conspiracies and a cliffhanger-studded series of chases toward unimaginable treasure, the parallels to Dan Brown's best-sellingDa Vinci Codehere fairly glare. But producer Jerry Bruckheimer hasn't so much ripped off Brown's tale, as cinematically pre-empted it; if it starred marionettes it might even make a worthy sequel toTeam America. FormerYesguitarist/composer Trevor Rabin conforms nicely to the producer's blockbuster action formula, conjuring a synth-bolstered orchestral maelstrom of nervous rhythms and ever-crashing percussion. But save for the obligatory swelling strings of the heroic, if elegiac finale (another Bruckheimer trademark) and a few fleeting, modernist arpeggios that help date it, Rabin's talents aren't really being tested here. Like the film it supports, it's an exercise in busy craftsmanship -- if not exactly a triumph of style over substance.-- Jerry McCulley