Undeterred by wading through the emails of thousands of hate mongering Alien Vs. Predator fanboys, the guy who brought you the first REAL review of AvP on the internet is back with a movie that’s probably a little safer to talk about: National Treasure. While not one of the staff here at CB, NotSo is a loyal reader. As I would with any reader review, I’m just throwing out what he sent us, and take no responsibility for it, we just report it. Unedited, uninfluenced, here it is on a page, take it for what it is. I mention that because some people don’t seem to understand the difference. You folks know who you are (I’m looking at you Mr. “I hate the internet press even though we love you” Shyalaman).

That all having been said, NotSoSecretAgent is legit so here he with his take on a movie that I don’t think anyone is looking for, National Treasure. It’d be nice if Nic Cage’s career would bounce back.

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Ah, another week, another test screening. After the Alien vs. Predator debacle, I'm a little wary about writing this, but here goes nothing.

I must first get it out of the way that National Treasure is a Jerry Bruckheimer film and much more often than not, I hate Jerry Bruckheimer films. But I found myself nicely surprised by National Treasure; I wouldn't call it great or even good, but it didn't suck immensely and to its credit, that's a good thing.

National Treasure tells the story of the Gates family, who have been obsessed with finding a massive treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers. The current Gates treasure-seeker is Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), who has enlisted an entire group to help him find the treasure, which is said to be too great for any one man. After the find of an ancient artifact that contains a clue stating the whereabouts of the actual treasure map, Ian Howe (Sean Bean) and a few more of Gates' cronies decide they have everything they need to find the treasure and leave Gates and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha...yes, the man who played the "challenged" character in Gigli) for death in the middle of the arctic. Gates and Poole then decide the best thing to do is to try and protect the map by stealing it first. The tough part is the map is located on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

As the premise clearly suggests, National Treasure is not a smart movie. It's a weird mishmash of adventure movies, taking from Indiana Jones most prominently. But what's kind of oddly refreshing about National Treasure is that, with the (possible?) exception of the first 10 minutes in the frozen tundra, it takes place entirely in America, showcasing some of the most scenic spots in the country. This movie's greatest achievement is making familiar locations at least mildly exciting.

The amount of action is surprisingly low, but in its place is an extremely corny sense of humor. I'm all for light-hearted romps, but this got to be too much. Most annoying of all is Justin Bartha, who plays the "comic relief" character in the film. But tell me, is there any need for a comic relief character in a movie that has such a pronounced sense of humor? He could be like every other character and just pop in with a few witty lines every now and then and he would work, but instead, every time he speaks he tries so hard to make the audience laugh it's unbelievable.

Nicolas Cage does nice enough work here. It's a huge step down from the character-driven pieces (though, this is pretty character-driven for a Bruckheimer flick) he has been doing recently, but he carries this silly movie all the way. But the fact remains, one likable performance doesn't make the entire movie worth it.

This is a hard film to describe. It's not bad and it isn't good. It's just mediocre. Justin Bartha gives a grating performance, but at least Nicolas Cage gives an okay one. It has an annoying, lame sense of humor, but at least it has one. The action is cliche, but at least there isn't much of it. It goes on for too long (the cut I saw was slightly over two hours), but at least it isn't agonizingly boring.

For Bruckheimer, this movie's sort of a revelation. But it's still not good. I mean, you're telling me they fought the Revolutionary War to protect that treasure instead of actually wanting independence? Whatever, Jerry.

- NotSo

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Thanks NotSo! Honestly, I think that's about what we'd all expect. If anyone else out there saw it, send in your view. Is he right?

Who the heck is Justin Bartha in The CB Forum.
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