Light weight but fun adventure film - National Treasure Reviews

National Treasure is the story of Ben Gates (Nicholas Cage), a descendant in a long line of treasure hunters, or as he likes to put it, treasure protectors. His family name has long since been disgraced though for believing in the existance of the treasure, and his father Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) wants nothing to do with the family burden. You see, long ago the Gates family was entrusted with a clue, one of apparently many, that lead to perhaps the greatest amassed treasure ever. We learn of this folklore through Ben's grandfater, John Adams Gates (Christopher Plummer) in the opening moments. You can help but draw parallels to Dan Brown's best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. The Free Masons, Knights Templars-- the gangs all here. But this is a Bruckheimer film, the man behind Armageddon and Coyote Ugly and directed by Jon Turteltaub, responsible for Phenomenon and While You Were Sleeping. So unlike the touchy subjects of the novel, this movie is far more mainstream, venturing in PG-ish family friendly territory. That's not a bad thing, as National Treasure is an enjoyable action film overall. There's the occassional silly dialogue, and the implausible situation from time to time, but it somehow works. Along for the ride is Ben Gates' loyal sidekick Riley Poole (Justin Bartha proving there is life after Gigli). Ben and Riley have the uneasy task of attempting to prove there's a hidden map on the other side of the Declaration of Independence, one of the clues left by the Knights. This is where Abigal Chase (played by Diana Kruger) comes in. She has access to the document, and when Ben and Riley plot to steal it, she becomes involved with the both of them. Rounding out the cast are Sean Bean, playing Ian Howe, Gates' financier and nemesis and Harvey Keitel as an FBI agent simply known as Sadusky.