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Title: National Treasure (2004)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Nicolas Cage | ... | Benjamin Franklin Gates | |
| Diane Kruger | ... | Abigail Chase | |
| Justin Bartha | ... | Riley Poole | |
| Sean Bean | ... | Ian Howe | |
| Jon Voight | ... | Patrick Gates | |
| Harvey Keitel | ... | Sadusky | |
| Christopher Plummer | ... | John Adams Gates | |
| David Dayan Fisher | ... | Shaw | |
| Stewart Finlay-McLennan | ... | Powell | |
| Oleg Taktarov | ... | Shippen | |
 |
Stephen A. Pope | ... | Phil (as Stephen Pope) |
| Annie Parisse | ... | Agent Dawes | |
| Mark Pellegrino | ... | Agent Johnson | |
| Armando Riesco | ... | Agent Hendricks | |
| Erik King | ... | Agent Colfax | |
Benjamin Franklin Gates, a pedigree of the treasure hunter family who learns about a national treasure from his grandfather. The treasure is stashed somewhere in the country and the clue leading to the treasure chest is cyphered and scattered all over the country. Benjamin's father abhors treasure hunting, as he himself lost 20 years in chasing the treasure without success. Plot takes a twist when Ben's accomplice Ian decides to steal 'Declaration of Independence' for the next clue. Ben refuses to Ian's plan and they become hostile. When Ben tips FBI about the possible theft, they refused to believe him. Ben determines to steal the 'Declaration of Independence' in order to protect it from Ian. Ben meets 'Abigail Chase' the curator of the archives when he steals the document. Rest of the story is about how Ben, his partner Riley and Abigail decrypts the clues and rescues the national treasure without getting to the hands of Ian.
This was a fun film, sort of like an Indian Jones movie, but the treasure hunter must figure out clues. I'm sure the reason this was made and released now has a lot to do with the Da Vinci Code. The plot is just like it except instead of involving religious history, the clues center around American history, and namely the founding fathers.
So Nick Cage, plays Ben Gates, the treasure hunter whose family has been looking for the treasure of the knights templer for years. One of his relatives possessed the last remaining clue from a dying Mason. So, the movie starts with Cage finally solving that clue, and the film goes from there. Of course, we have the evil billionaire guy who wants the treasure for himself and the funny sidekick. But, I think the sidekick failed because he wasn't all that funny. The movie could have used some more humor. And of course, Gates hooks up with a beautiful woman along the way to help him solve the clues, which sounds just like Da Vinci.
It is unbelievable that someone could just come up with the answer to these difficult clues after thinking about them for 2 minutes, but we don't have time to let the characters ponder them for a few months. It is meant to be fun, so forget about the plot holes. The whole set beneath the church looked very neat, but I would have to think all those wooden stairs would have been rotten by then and no one could walk on them. But who cares, it's fun.
And the theft of the Declaration of Independence was reminiscent of Ocean's 11. Funny how anyone can steal anything in a film, forget locked down security.
FINAL VERDICT: If you like adventure films, I recommend it. It is not like Tomb Raider, which some have compared it to. Tomb Raider was horrible. This is more like Indiana Jones.