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(3.5 Stars) Family-Oriented Modern Treasure Hunting Romp
Close on the heels of 'Pirates of the Carribbean,' Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer presents another tresure hunting romp starring Nicholas Cage. The story, actions and characters are all formularic, and there is always a kind of feeling like, 'I have seen it before,' but I still find 'Natinonal Tresure' very entertaining if not very original.
The film's plot might remind you of bestselling book 'The Da Vinci Code.' Nicholas Cage plays Benjamin Franklin Gates (what?) whose family have been trying to find the hidden treasure, and the clues of its whereabout are, Gates believes, encrypted in America's national monuments and archives such as The Declaration of Independence. And one dollar note is, according to Gates, another crutial key.
No one takes the screenplay seriously, and no one should. This is a film made for fun, and in has fairly considerable entertainment value and its own charms. See, Diane Kruger (much better than in 'Troy') is a curator of the National Archives, but she is there for providing love interest. Justin Bartha (very good) is Benjamin's computer-wiz sidekick, but he is there for comic relief. Harvey Keitel is an FBI agent and John Voight is Benjamin's father. They both sneer at the ideas of our hero, but we know better, for we know who will win in the end. We know that Sean Bean is doing the same kind of role again, with milder tone of menace. But knowing that, I enjoyed the film pretty much.
Seriously, the story often gets boring because of the contrived situations, and director Jon Turteltaub ('While You Were Sleeping') may not be the right choice for action adventure film. However, though the actions themselves are not particularly innovative, they are still competently done, always providing something that might interest us -- like explosion, caper, car chase, and secret tunnels. The difference is that they are milder than other actioners (it's Disney, you know).
No matter what people say, co-producer Bruckheimer knows what he is doing, and the film is 100 % pure entertainment. And that's what you get in quite amusing adventure tale 'National Treasure.'
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