National Treasure
| Year: | 2004 |
| Production Co: | Bruckheimer Pictures |
| Director: | John Turtletaub |
| Producer: | Jerry Bruckheimer |
| Cast: | Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Christopher Plummer, Jon Voight, Sean Bean, Karvey Keitel |
An Indiana Jones-lite with some very Bruckheimer flag waving for the US of A sees Nicolas Cage as the latest in a long line of guardians both searching for and protecting a great treasure that's been lost since the time of the Templars.
Borrowing heavily from some of the stuff that's been driving internet conspiracy theorists wild for years, like the symbols on the US $1 bill and the Freemasons, it spins it all up into a single protracted chase sequence across America from one historical location and artefact to another in search of a fortune in treasure.
Along the way, Gates (Cage) and comic sidekick pick up a beautiful babe archivist (Kruger) and they must stay ahead of a former partner, now rival team leader (Bean) and the FBI.
It has several points of interest. First is okay action. Next is a very tired and disinterested-looking Cage slumming it in another Xmas-money role for pal Bruckheimer and helmer-for-hire Turtletaub. There's a collection of very clichéd secondary characters, and finally the implausible premise that dark ages Europeans would hide anything in North America when it was a land of primitive natives and harsh conditions.
Borrowing heavily from some of the stuff that's been driving internet conspiracy theorists wild for years, like the symbols on the US $1 bill and the Freemasons, it spins it all up into a single protracted chase sequence across America from one historical location and artefact to another in search of a fortune in treasure.
Along the way, Gates (Cage) and comic sidekick pick up a beautiful babe archivist (Kruger) and they must stay ahead of a former partner, now rival team leader (Bean) and the FBI.
It has several points of interest. First is okay action. Next is a very tired and disinterested-looking Cage slumming it in another Xmas-money role for pal Bruckheimer and helmer-for-hire Turtletaub. There's a collection of very clichéd secondary characters, and finally the implausible premise that dark ages Europeans would hide anything in North America when it was a land of primitive natives and harsh conditions.