quote:National Treasure is a film that has its head on straight. It is wonderful adventure, full of excitement; it absolutely works as a contest between the subtle-thinking smart guys (the characters played by our favorite eccentric, Nicolas Cage, sharp and wry Diane Kruger [Helen from Troy], and sweetly eager Justin Bartha, who will be a huge star very soon) and the bombs-and-bludgeons crew led by one of our best screen villains, Sean Bean (Boromir from Lord of the Rings).
But it also works as a delicious parody of stories about centuries-old conspiracies and secret codes.
And on an even deeper level, it's a story about faith, loyalty, sacrifice ... stuff that we're always embarrassed to talk about, but which we admire deeply when we encounter it in other people, whether in real life or in fiction.
National Treasure is not only smart, but it thinks we're smart. It is made with the assumption that we can follow a storyline that actually requires us to think and remember and care about what's good and decent.
I saw National Treasure with Coccinelle last weekend, and the only way we made it through the movie was quietly chanting "Fun. Brainless. Fun. Brainless." to ourselves over and over again.
*******SPOILERS********
For instance, the opening scene. What on earth kind of train of thought was that?? We are supposed to believe that he instantly jumped to the answer being the back of the D0I? Also, the boat. It's very nice that they were able to drive all the way across the polar ice cap to the EXACT location where the Charlotte was grounded, and then brush off the six inches of snow that had accumulated in the last two hundred years to reveal the name of the boat right away so he would know he was at the right wreck.
And then, it's still perfectly formed. The ice hasn't crushed it at all. The captain is conveniently wearing his captain's hat so Our Hero wouldn't waste his time digging through random barrels but would know which one held the McGuffin. When the floor, covered in gun powder, lights on fire, only ONE of the threads of gun powder light while the rest of the boat waits for its cue.
I can understand why everything was done the way it was - so we could be part of the adventure but not slow down the action with any of the natural wrong turns in the maze that a treasure hunt would have. To make that happen, everything was that drawn out for us in crayon with big flashing lights. It was AWFUL. THe characters made no sense at any time - there was no reason for the girl to not take off with the declaration as soon as she was free and had access to it. The FBI may not have believed them before, but they sure would now. Plus...LEMON JUICE AND A HAIR DRYER!?! I curled into the fetal position for that scene.
There are a thousand and a half things that didn't make sense in that movie, but everytime one of them would happen, we'd quietly chant Fun. Brainless. and stay very still until something fun came on or the sidekick starting talking, who was adorable.
I think the major difference between my impression of the movie and Uncle Orson is that OSC thinks the conspiracies, twists, and hunts were all done tongue-in-cheek. I don't think so. I think it was very sincere. They weren't joking.
The movie was fun. But don't expect the characters or the action to make sense.
There was a tagline for the Kids in the Hall movie that I think very much applies to this movie (and many others). Imagine this said in an trailer announcer's voice:
Every year Hollywood makes hundreds of movies. This. IS. ONE OF THEM!
Seriously, along with all the completely laughable twists, it was just...dull. Well, to me, anyway.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I have a huge crush on Justin Bartha. He was my favorite character. Maybe it's just cause I have a thing for computer geeks. I don't know, it was like an Indiana Jones. I didn't go to the movie to watch character development.
AJ
(but when watching a movie I competely suspend disbelief too for almost any movie... this is why I can't watch horror films)
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I got suckered into going to see this and was told that there were guns and stuff blowing up and it wouldn't be lame. Well two out of three isn't that bad. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of Disney and their movies, and this was a Disney movie and no one told me. So on top of the movie not being all that good, the trailers were ridiculously bad.
quote: National Treasure is not only smart, but it thinks we're smart. It is made with the assumption that we can follow a storyline that actually requires us to think and remember and care about what's good and decent.
I think they also assumed that we were five years old.
Posts: 298 | Registered: Sep 2004
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this is the latter-half of a National Treasure review i did for my University's newspaper...
Acting-wise, Nick Cage was dull as pancakes, and not the fruit-filled kind, and his lovely co-star didn’t have much going for her except her looks. On the other hand, their funny side-kick Riley, managed to not only make Cage and Kruger look animated, but also provided the movie with some pretty funny moments. Sean Bean is a good bad guy but unfortunately this wasn’t much of a part for him. Harvey Keitel, of all people, plays a special agent searching for Gates and the Declaration, but it is a very weird role for him -- he doesn’t get to shout or swear or kill anybody.
Christopher Plummer has a fun little cameo as Gates’ granddad, John Adams Gates, who gives some lengthy exposition at the beginning of the movie to explain the background of the treasure. John Voight likewise plays a Gates: Patrick, the skeptic father of Benjamin...and the only Gates who doesn’t believe the treasure exists. How could they have expected him to believe in the family secret when they didn’t name him after an American of historical significance?
The movie is a lot of fun, but not much more than that. On the plus side, it is absolutely jam-packed with fun little tid-bits of American history, trivial things made interesting by the codes the main characters have to decipher -- the leads practically romp through Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. National Treasure is basically a love letter to historical America.
Basically, this is a dum-dum lollipop movie -- it’s silly, it’s colorful, but you still can’t help stealing it from the bank....er, seeing it. It’s a no-brainer, and sometimes it’s nice to just sit in a theater and let your mind take a break for the night.
quote:John Voight likewise plays a Gates: Patrick, the skeptic father of Benjamin...and the only Gates who doesn’t believe the treasure exists. How could they have expected him to believe in the family secret when they didn’t name him after an American of historical significance?
I'd be willing to bet his name is something like Patrick Henry Gates.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I thought the same, but luckily the full name is never mentioned, so I took advantage of the funny.
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I liked it. As for the ice stuff, gps, satellite imagery. I watch movies for fun, not to pick them apart. Edit: it also appears that the chick in the movie IS based on a comic book character.
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