Critics,are you kidding us

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It's one of the most original films you'll likely see all year, which, depending on your threshold for certifiably crazy storylines, could be a rewarding experience or one that frustrates you.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film looks like the alternative and geek version of any Indiana Jones movie, combining an exciting adventure with an absurd story based on a false historical premise: the passage of the famous "treasure of the Knights Templar" to American soil, where it was hidden by Masons, allegedly heirs of the Templars traditions and secrets. It's true that the Templars were extinguished by the Papacy at the request of the French king Philip the Fair, who arrested and killed several former knights in order to confiscate the assets of that religious order. It's also a fact that it was a very rich order, with lands, castles and armies. But to believe that these knights ever set foot in America or had secrets to leave the Masons is insane. If their intention was to conceal something or to pass some knowledge, they would probably took the most viable option: Portugal, where King Denis asked the Pope to maintain the Templars, as it was convenient to the kingdom, thus arising the Order of Christ, which survived in Portugal until modern times. There was no reason to go to America, and Masons still didn't exist. Well, let's talk about the movie now...The movie is good, it entertains the audience well, especially if we're not too attentive to the dozens of historical mistakes made by the plot, quite unrealistic. The special effects are very good and the film is visually pleasing. The characters, however, lack personality and the actors are never able to give that. Nicholas Cage is rather unconvincing in the role, never seeming to be truly an academic nor an adventurer. The romantic subplot between him and Diane Kruger is highly predictable, though it looks good in this kind of movie. In short, it's a good movie to entertain, but there's a danger that some people will think they have a true historical basis and that makes it dangerous.

This is a film very much in the spirit of THE DA VINCI CODE – except it came out before the film version of that bestseller, and it's also a lot better, although that isn't saying much. It's a straightforward mystery/detective/crime/adventure film, reminiscent on plenty of movies that have come before (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE spring particularly to mind here). It's fair to say that NATIONAL TREASURE doesn't add anything new to the genre, and it doesn't have a lot to say about anything, ever. It's a Walt Disney-produced film, so is geared squarely at children, and it's inoffensive, light, and not too head-scratching.The cast is something of a mixed bag. There are former luminaries like a slightly embarrassed Jon Voight and a barely-in-it Harvey Keitel hanging around the edges and reminding us of who they are, while total idiots like Justin Bartha are given the limelight. Bartha plays the youthful ally, the teenage 'hook' who's supposed to humanise the story, adding humour and comment all the while. He just comes across as a jerk, and his punchlines are cringe worthy. Still, it's not saying much when an overacting Nicolas Cage is your lead, engaging in supposed romantic scenes with cold fish Diane Kruger. Was this really the face that launched a thousand ships? I don't think so, somehow. The only cast members of note are the Brits. Christopher Plummer delights as a Gandalf-type character in the opening sequence, and Sean Bean handles the villain duties as the absurdly monikered 'Ian' – hmm, the name doesn't exactly fill one with terror, does it? We're used to seeing Bean as a crumpled rogue, but he's dapper here and delivers a straight-on-the-money turn as the avaricious villain. He's the best thing in the film, even if he is the bad guy again.The story zips along at a fair pace, and I enjoyed the various historical elements that showed up along the way (the tinted glasses were particularly interesting). The stealing-the-Declaration set-piece is a little too close to a certain Tom Cruise film, but the subsequent car chase is all right and the various machinations aren't too laborious to sit through. Things end up in one of those clichéd, CGI'ed places, a massive vault with an endless pit below, with characters jumping around on rickety platforms and the like. It's all pretty predictable and what happens at the end won't surprise anyone. Still, something kept me watching this film, and I suspect that director Jon Turteltaub is the culprit; he adds a level of finesse and polish that the film doesn't strictly deserve.

It's a fun movie to watch with your family, and is also rather memorable, but isn't the best. It has an interesting take on American history, which may not be quite as appealing to some people, and it's likely that kids won't understand parts of it. While not historically accurate, it's easy to follow. Another issue with the movie would be how quickly the characters solve puzzles and find clues. Of course it's not a realistic movie, but really it should have taken them at least a few months to find the treasure, even a few years. As long as you don't take the movie very seriously, it's not bad and is a fun movie to watch with friends and family.

For this being a Nicolas Cage movie then it actually surpassed my expectations and hopes by quite a lot. It turned out to be a rather entertaining movie both in storyline and in terms of acting. And yes, even Nicolas Cage, with his one and single facial expression, managed to impress in this 2004 adventure movie."National Treasure" is about the Gates family who has been chasing after the fabled Knights Templar treasure for generations, but the entire scientific and historical society see the family as dreamers and don't take them too seriously. And when Benjamin Franklin Gates (played by Nicolas Cage) finds the first and all-important clue aboard a ship thought to be lost, then a wild adventure across America takes place. Gates is chasing one clue after another, while his former colleague Ian (played by Sean Bean) is hot on his tail.The story is entertaining and does take the audience along on a wild ride in search for the clues that lead to the Knights Templar's fabled treasure. And director Jon Turteltaub managed to put it together quite nicely, and the end result is a very entertaining and fulfilling movie.There was some nice names on the cast list, which includes Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel and Christopher Plummer.The action scenes in the movie were nicely filmed and executed and it feels like the audience is right there alongside Gates as he chases after the treasure."National Treasure" is actually one of the better and brighter moments in Nicolas Cage's track history of movie performances.