National Treasure (2004) Synopsis:
Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage stars as the brilliant Benjamin Franklin Gates, third generation treasure hunter. All his life, Gates has been searching for a treasure no one believed existed: amassed through the ages, moved across continents, to become the greatest treasure the world has ever known. Hidden by our Founding Fathers, they left clues to the Treasure's location right before our eyes... from our nation's birthplace, to the nation's capital, to clues buried within the symbols on the dollar bill. Gates' life-long journey leads him to the last place anyone thought to look: a map hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence. But what he thought was the final clue is only the beginning. Gates realizes in order to protect the world's greatest treasure, he must now do the unthinkable: steal the most revered, best guarded document in American history before it falls into the wrong hands. In a race against time, Gates must elude the FBI, stay one step ahead of his ruthless adversary (Bean), decipher the remaining clues and unlock the 2000 year-old mystery behind our greatest national treasure.
National Treasure (2004) Movie Review:
As preposterous and silly a film as National Treasure is, it is still a fun popcorn movie that never asks its audience to take it very seriously. Typical for a Jerry Bruckheimer production, the film has numerous chase scenes and over the top explosions. However, it reference to Bruckheimer, National Treasure is tamer and more of history lesson adventure than typical action bonanza. The film is being referred to as a mix between The Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones, which it comes nowhere close to being, but is a lot more entertaining than films like The Mummy, Tomb Raider and Van Helsing.
Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is a ninth generation historian adventurer searching for clues to a hidden treasure that dates back 400 years ago and has grown immensely in its duration. The film opens with a young Ben first learning of the secret treasure from his grandfather (Christopher Plummer), who gives him the history of its existence and how the Gates family became involved. Ben’s father, Patrick (Jon Voight), despises the legend of the treasure stating that it is all myths and a waste of time.
Flash forward thirty years to the Artic Circle, where now as a historian and official treasure hunter, Ben has found a critical clue to the treasure’s location by learning of an invisible map that was placed on the back of the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Fathers of America. Ben’s partner, Ian (Sean Bean), double crosses him and leaves he and his best friend, Riley (Justin Bartha), left for dead. By miraculously surviving the Artic, Ben and Riley return to America. Knowing that Ian has the power to steal the Declaration of Independence for the map, Ben attempts to warn the authorities as well as National Archives curator Dr. Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger). After practically being laughed at, Ben decides to steal the Declaration of Independence himself to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Shortly after successfully stealing the Declaration of Independence, Ben along with Riley and of course Abigail Chase begin to put the clues together as to where the treasure is. Going from Washington, D.C to Philadelphia to New York, the trio are carefully piecing together clue by clue, which are all in someway connected to history and landmarks. All of this happening while Ian and the bad guys are one step behind them as well as the FBI, which is lead by an ethical investigator named Sadusky (Harvey Keitel).
Director Jon Turteltaub keeps this film on the edge, to where it moves so quick that it’s over two hour running time is not felt. The action is submissive and Turteltaub’s chase sequences are simple and not derivative. There are of course cheesy and dunce moments in the film that are a little too much even for a mindless popcorn movie. The atmosphere is certainly adventurous with the numerous historical U.S. landmarks and also old and decaying undergrounds that require torches to be lit. The director keeps this film very “PG,” even though all of the characters are adults. Only the bad guys have guns and shoot them, there is no cursing, and absolutely no blood. One could have easily blown this film into a typical “R” rated action blockbuster.
The script by Jim Kouf, Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley asks the audience to suspend disbelief and to take in a numerous off-wall ideas. However, not once does the script asks you to take it seriously; it is composed for just pure amusement. An example is the whole treasure concept and the weak and easy way that Ben and Riley steal the Declaration of Independence as well as other things. The characters also have no depth whatsoever. Abigail Chase merely joins the nerdish hero and his sidekick on their treasure hunt because the script needs her to be there to fall in love with Ben. The script tries to be more complicated than it really is and is not that contrite of a blueprint, but it really doesn’t need to be.
Nicolas Cage returns to his ordinary guy, turned action hero type roles as the adventurer Benjamin Franklin Gates. These are the types of roles that made the character actor an action hero in the late 1990’s, and perhaps he will rejuvenate his action career with his splendid performance as this treasure searching guru. A lot more likeable than her past performances this year in Troy and Wicker Park, Diane Kruger suits the role as Ben’s love interest Abigail. Last seen in the horrendous Gigli, Justin Bartha steals a lot of moments as the film’s funny sidekick who cannot stand that everyone always has a leg up on him. Sean Bean plays a bad guy once again as Ian and Harvey Keitel once again plays a pursing FBI agent as Sadusky. Jon Voight also has a supporting role as Ben’s unconvincing father.
National Treasure’s “PG” rating and genuine adventure feel could help it gain a chunk of the movie going demographic. This is producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s first PG movie since Remember the Titans, which was a solid hit. Though National Treasure feels like a big summer movie, it is quite toned down. Trevor Rabin contributes with a terrific musical score and Nicolas Cage returns to a type of role that brought him mainstream success. National Treasure is of course a really inept film that is just flat out dumb at moments, but it does what popcorn films are meant to do, entertain us.
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National Treasure (2004) review written by: Bailey Henderson
7th September, 2008 
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