FanUnity B(uzz)log

I have to be honest: I went into “National Treasure” expecting a terrible movie. Luckily, my extremely low expectations worked to my advantage and I enjoyed the film quite a bit despite some really silly plot holes.Nicolas Cage plays Ben Gates, the latest in a line descended from a man who received a clue to an amazing secret from the dying last signer of the Declaration of Independance. The secret was that the Freemasons among the Declaration signers conspired to hide an enormous treasure during the war from the British. The location remained secret after the victory and the treasure itself remained untouched, even though the first President of the cash-strapped new United States was himself a Mason. The signer told Ancestor Gates of a clue toward how to find the treasure, and generations of Gateses have been sleuthing it out ever since. This brings us to Nic Cage working with ruffian Sean Bean (Boromir from “Lord Of The Rings”), his ragtag crew and Gates’ own buddy played by Justin Bartha (who bares a striking resemblance to the baseball player Red Sox fans lovingly call Aaron f–king Boone).

Nic Cage, Boromir and Aaron Boone find a ship that the Gates family has been seeking for generations, and quickly happen upon another clue. Nic Cage reasons out that the map to the treasure is located on the back of the Declaration of Independance. Boromir decides to steal it, but Nic Cage finds this unethical. So Nic Cage and Aaron Boone get doublecrossed by Boromir, yet escape alive. They rush down to D.C. and meet up with a character played by Diane Kruger (Helen of Troy in “Troy”).

Helen of Troy doesn’t believe Nic Cage and Aaron Boone’s story about the planned theft and blows them off. So Cage decides that they only way to protect the Declaration is if he and Aaron Boone steal it themselves. This sets into motion a series of action sequences that find Cage, Aaron Boone and Helen of Troy on the run from Boromir, along the way throwing into the action Angelina Jolie’s dad aka Midnight Cowboy Jon Voight, who plays Nic Cage’s curmudgeon dad who long since disavowed the Gates family quest as rubbish (a nice flashback scene shows young Nic Cage learning of the secrets from Christopher Plummer aka Captain von Trapp from “The Sound Of Music”, who plays the grandpappy).

Eventually, Angelina Jolie’s dad believes again, Captain von Trapp’s legacy is fulfilled, Boromir is foiled, Nic Cage hooks up with Helen Of Troy and Aaron Boone gets filthy rich. Bonus: Harvey Keitel, who plays the FBI agent pursuing the lot of them, keeps his pants on for the entire film.

It all works out to a nice little fun-yet-forgetable action movie if you can suspend enough disbelief.

3/5 Stars.