Years ago, I remembered when this project was in development hell for Bruckheimer, and when it had a nice premise: Modern treasure hunters find out about the lost and buried "National Treasure" gold of the Founding Fathers, used during the American Revolution to help bankroll the successful insurgency against the British. Simple but interesting.
Then comes THE DA VINCI CODE, and NATIONAL TREASURE gets greenlighted with a more complicated goof-up: That same American gold was simply part of, and belongs to thousands of years worth of treasure accumulated by the Knights Templar and the Masons or whatever stupid nonsense.
I could ask futile questions of how such great treasure cared for then promptly was forgotten and lost deep down below New York City, or the 3-D hologram on the back of the Declaration of Independence, or of the foreign policy implications of returning prized items to countries and kingdoms that don't exist anymore.
Do the contents of the Library of Alexandria go to Egypt or to Greece? Which artifacts were Roman and are outright American? All this mess would take decades to settle, by which time the finders themselves become too old and senile to fully reap the financial windfall.
Now some of you will write of how hypocritical I am in that I gave a positive review to an equally outlandish fortune & glory-seeking popcorn picture in SAHARA, which is a fair point, since that movie had the sillyness of an assault helicopter taken down by a 19th century cannonball.
The difference though is simple. One, I bought Matthew McConaughey and Steve Zahn as adventurers and their good chemistry as partners who've had many adventures before, and would have many more after SAHARA. Second, the treasure premise is a macguffin to get the heroes involved with the realplot.
Third, I enjoyed it in spite of the insanity. I can't say the same though for NATIONAL TREASURE.
I've written before how I have never bought Nicholas Cage as an action figure, and that continues with NATIONAL TREASURE. But now, a historian? Maybe of Superman comics, but of American History? Yeah right, and I also buy Tom Cruise as a sane psychiatrist.
Then there is the fact of how the dynamics is pretty funny, with the very English Sean Bean being the dastardly villain going after the precious yankee document that is the Declaration of Independence. I know this worked with the Nazis trying to capture the Jewish Ark of the Covenant in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, but this is ridiculous.
Then again, it could be worse...he could have been French.
I wanted to enjoy NATIONAL TREASURE as a popcorn action ticket, but the little stuff rolled up into a giant ball of mediocrity.
There is Cage's sidekick who is pretty damn useless save for the one-liners. The ancient ice-trapped ship that explodes as a very nice orange fireball(!) and the father of the hero who doubts the existence of the treasure because the script says so.
Oh and how can I forget about the ancient wooden staircases and platforms that still operated in spite of the termites and natural decay?
Certainly the basis for a nice fun picture is there, with Jon Turtletaub's competent direction, but like 1408 earlier this year, the movie suffers because the plot is too over-developed for its own good.
Plus, I have pet peeves with pictures that alot of great actors involved, but they're wasted by doing nothing. If you have the likes of Christopher Plummer, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Voight, milk them for their worth.
Then again, Jerry Bruckheimer isn't loved in Hollywood for the quality of his productions. I'll give the man respect in that he sure knows how to make assloads of cash year after year. Now that's a real treasure chest right there.
