National Treasure

National Treasure is one of those that I didn't want to admit wanting to see, so I was secretly happy when I was offered a ticket the other night. As someone who doesn't like pure action movies, this one did a good job of blending explosions with the chase for the treasure and the deciphering of pseudo-historical clues.

It owes quite a bit to The Da Vinci Code. As soon as the Knights Templar showed up in the very beginnning, I was thinking, "Oh yeah, those guys. They sure are busy." Apparently, you just can't have a centuries-old secret without the Knights. It's like having a party with no spinach dip. Joining the Knights with their own conspiracies and clues are the Founding Fathers, which is sure to make Ben Franklin seem cooler to high school kids.

Nicholas Cage, who I am not a big fan of, kept the annoying mannerisms to a minimum and did a serviceable job. I did laugh a couple times when his clue-solving skills recalled Adam West's Batman making incredible leaps in logic to solve the Riddler's clues. His sidekick resembled the guy from Y Tu Mama Tabien, but apparently was a different guy.

I'll have to reccomend it as good escapism. Now I need to find a dollar bill so I can examine the back of it for awhile.