Movie Reviews

I went to see National Treasure because, for the first film I was going to see in our brand new, state-of-the-art cinema, I wanted to see something loud and flashy and explode-y; I wasn't necessarily expecting a good movie.

I was pleasantly surprised though, because National Treasure turned out to be quite a lot of fun. It had everything I'd expected from it -- action, explosions, chases, gunfights, and secret underground treasure chambers -- but it also had a more-than-passably-interesting plot and a set of three main characters who were all likeable and convincing in their roles.

The storyline bear a lot of resemblance to Dan Brown's bestselling book, The DaVinci Code in the sense that it involves centuries-old treasures and secrets, the keys to which have all been cleverly hidden in the form of riddles and clues by a secret brotherhood entrusted throughout the centuries to protect them (in the case of National Treasure, it's the Freemasons, and the biggest 'key' happens to be hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence). The movie follows Ben "Franklin" Gates (Nicolas Cage) and his partner Riley (Justin Bartha, who played the mentally handicapped kid in that wonderful film Gigli) as they stumble upon a succession of clues to the whereabouts of the world's largest treasure; each clue not pointing directly at the treasure itself (that would be too easy, and would make for too short a movie), but at another clue which may or may not be the final secret to locating the it. Of course, they're not the only ones searching for the treasure. Hot on their tail is Ian Howe (Sean Bean), a disgruntled ex-partner of Gates's, who'll do whatever he can to get to it first.

It's all pretty goofy, really. But just like The DaVinci Code (a movie adaptation of which is in the works), it's fast-paced and entertaining.