National Treasure (2004)

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Story: Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv, Charles Segars 
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean
Music: Trevor Rabin
Time: 131 minutes
Bottom-line: If you like treasure hunts, this film is a popcorn thriller

An action-packed film is what Jon Turtletaub gives the viewers, in National Treasure. In numerous ways similar to The Da Vinci Code, this film follows a historian cum cryptologist who goes in search of a lost treasure hidden by the Freemasons. Starring Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha in the lead roles, with Harvey Keitel in the supporting role, this film promises entertainment if and only if you love treasure hunts.

Benjamin “Ben” Gates (Cage) is a descendant of a long line of treasure hunters. Despite his father’s discouragement, Ben continues with the search of an enormous treasure, after he gets a clue, which leads him to the Arctic. His team includes computer expert Riley Poole (Bartha) and Ian Howe (Bean). They discover a ship, and inside find another message, which Ben interprets. He tells that it leads them to the Declaration of Independence. Ian says that he will steal the Declaration to get to the treasure, and Ben opposes. This leads to a fight, and Ian and Ben (along with Riley) escape, but are now two different groups searching for the treasure. Ben goes back to the US, and tries to convince the authorities, including a woman named Dr. Abagail Chase (Kruger), that some men are going to steal the Declaration. When no one believes him, Ben knows that through hook or crook, it is up to him to save the Declaration, and also the treasure. Whether or not he finds the treasure, and whether he can find it before Ian, forms the rest of the film.

Cage as Ben Gates, with Kruger

The story goes at a very rapid pace. But well, there is no depth in the story: it is just a non-stop treasure hunt, with one chase after another. So, if you are a fan of films/books of this genre, then you will enjoy the film, but if you are not, you will only mock at the highly impossible events in the story. From the start, it is all about how one clue leads to the next. The clues seem to make sense to me, but of course, they are not exactly realistic. The heist methods are thrilling to see, but whether or not they are possible in real life is a question mark. But in films like these, you can either ignore these things and enjoy the movie, or you can criticize the absurdity. I, for one, choose the former option, but yet, some scenes are very unrealistic to me.

Bartha as Riley Poole

The acting is overall, poor, but Justin Bartha’s performance is brilliant. Cage has a face of stone, with hardly any expression, and Diane Kruger seemed to overact in some places. Yet, Bartha, with his comic expressions, and his dialogues, manages to provide lots of subtle humour even at serious times. Ben takes a more serious look at the events, whereas Riley always takes everything a little lightly, and this is what helps to create humour from Riley’s character. Bartha’s performance was a standout, I must say.

Kruger as Dr. Abagail Chase

The score is good, as was the camerawork. The settings were excellent, especially the ones used to show the underground chambers. The scenes shown here were quite exciting to watch, though the suspense was not so good. The scenes that take place in the Arctic, the van chase were somewhat unrealistic, but the heist scenes were pretty convincing. The action scenes are not bad, but they could have been improved.

To sum up, Jon Turtletaub gives a fast-paced story in National Treasure, which is in many ways like The Da Vinci Code. If you like treasure hunts (I do), then the film is enjoyable. The acting could have been greatly improved, unless you feel that in such films the acting need not play a role (I don’t). Bartha’s performance is excellent, and deserves praise. The story is quite unrealistic, but entertainment is guaranteed.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 45%