National Treasure: A Duology Retrospective

In recognition of the annual holiday that is the Fourth of July weekend, I figured that now would be the perfect time to tackle a franchise that I’ve always wanted to cover on this site. And the thing is… the idea of doing this post and having it come out around this time is something that I’ve wanted to do for a few years now, and yet, I never got around to doing it. In fact, it could’ve been a perfect time to do it last year seeing how 2019 was the 15^th anniversary of the first film’s release. But even though I do own both these films on Blu-Ray, this has been the one post that has always eluded me… until now. Yes, fueled in large part by my most recent viewings of these films on Disney+ and the fact that it feels appropriate to do this little retrospective on two American-themed adventure films on Independence Day, the time has finally come for me to tackle a pair of films that were some of my absolute favorites growing up. These two films in question came courtesy of Hollywood mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer (just one year after he had helped launch the massive franchise that is Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean) and veteran director Jon Turteltaub, who was very much a studio regular at that point having directed films such as 1993’s Cool Runnings and 1996’s Phenomenon. Both films proved to be big hits at the box-office even if they weren’t exactly as successful with critics for reasons that, yes, we will get into. Nevertheless, they’ve continued to be some of the most notable films that came from Disney’s live-action filmography in the early 2000s, and after many years of speculation, it seems like this franchise will finally be getting a third installment sometime soon. Until then, its time to celebrate a highly entertaining pair of films that, let’s face it, is mainly known nowadays as that series where, in one film, Nicolas Cage boldly proclaims that he’s “gonna steal the Declaration of Independence” and, in another film, “kidnap the President of the United States”. That’s right, folks, today we’ll be looking back at the National Treasure films.

Now before we begin, I should point out that this will be a far different kind of retrospective compared to all the other ones that I’ve done over the years. If you’ve been following this site for a while, you’ll know that when it comes to retrospectives, I usually just go through all the films that are a part of whatever franchise I’m looking at (or, in some cases, a director’s filmography) in the chronological order of their release. But when it comes to National Treasure, I realized that I had to switch things up a bit for this one since these two films have quite a lot in common. Both films revolve around treasure hunter Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) as he searches for a fabled treasure with the help of his father Patrick (Jon Voight), his best friend and tech expert Riley Poole (Justin Bartha), and his girlfriend Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger). In both films, Ben’s quest for the treasure sees him having to pull off a daring heist that immediately puts him in hot water with the FBI, specifically agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel). And in both films, Ben and company end up in a race against time with a rival treasure hunter who’s willing to use whatever means necessary to find the treasure before they do, although there are points where they’re forced to work together to find the next clues and overcome dangerous obstacles. Really, the only major differences between these two films are the treasures themselves and the locations that Ben and the gang travel to. With all this in mind, I decided that, for today’s post (and today’s post only, unless I come across another case of a sequel that’s a lot like its predecessor), I’ll be abandoning the traditional format that I do for these retrospective posts and discuss these two films simultaneously rather than separately. Personally, I feel that if I did it the other way around, there’s a good chance that I wouldn’t have had enough material to talk about by the time that I’d get to the second film due to the potential risk of repeating myself, and I fear that this would’ve severely impacted the quality of the post as a result. In other words, this whole situation can best be summed up by one of the most notable clues from the second film.

“These twins stand resolute…”

The first National Treasure, released on November 19^th, 2004, opens with a young Benjamin Gates being told the story of a legendary treasure by his grandfather John (Christopher Plummer). The treasure in question is a vast collection of relics from various empires that was discovered by the Knights Templar. They would then go on to form another brotherhood known as the Freemasons which, by the time of the Revolutionary War, included several key figures from America’s founding fathers who swore to keep it out of the hands of the British empire. As for the Gates family, their involvement with the legend of the Templar treasure began when Ben’s ancestor Thomas received one of the sole clues of its existence from Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence (“The secret lies with Charlotte”). Years later, Ben finally locates the Charlotte, a ship that ended up stuck in the Arctic, with the help of tech expert Riley Poole and entrepreneur Ian Howe (Sean Bean). And while the treasure isn’t contained within the ship’s confines, they do find their next clue, which suggests that a hidden map is located on the back of the Declaration of Independence. However, tensions between Ben and Ian develop when the latter suggests that they steal it. Ben naturally opposes the idea, resulting in Ian and his henchmen heading off on their own accord to find the treasure first. And unfortunately for Ben and Riley, they fail to convince anyone of Ian’s plans and the existence of a map on the back of the Declaration, including National Archives archivist Abigail Chase. Thus, Ben realizes that, since Ian will most likely destroy the Declaration after finding the map, the only way to protect the most important document in American history is to steal it himself.

For the sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets (released on December 21^st, 2007), Ben and his father Patrick find themselves facing a troubling dilemma when black market antiquities dealer Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) comes forward with one of the mythical lost pages from the diary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassinator, John Wilkes Booth. When it’s revealed that Ben’s great-great-grandfather Thomas Gates’ name is on the page, Wilkinson suggests that Thomas was the true mastermind behind Lincoln’s assassination since he’s listed as ‘Artifex’ (the Latin term for 'architect'). And yet, since this all contrasts heavily with the Gates family’s long-standing story of Thomas being a heroic figure who gave his life to keep Confederate sympathizers from discovering a mythical treasure, Ben immediately sets out to clear his ancestor’s name. In doing so, Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Patrick discover that the treasure that Booth and his followers were looking for was the ancient Native American city of gold, Cibola. But as their investigation continues, Ben and company soon realize that they’ll need to find the mysterious ‘Book of Secrets’ that contains a wide array of Presidential documents that provide the truths behind some of the most notable moments in American history like the JFK assassination, Watergate, and the mystery of Area 51. The only problem, though, is that the book is exclusively reserved for Presidents, resulting in Ben suggesting the only solution that he can think of; kidnap the President (Bruce Greenwood) to learn about the book’s location.

I should probably start things off by pointing out the obvious… yes, these films can get incredibly ridiculous when it comes to their plots. Whether it’s the first film’s set-up of the Founding Fathers orchestrating the safeguarding of a vast treasure or the reveal in the second film that Cibola is hidden beneath Mount Rushmore, it’s safe to say that these films are far from being the most historically accurate when it comes to their interpretations of U.S. history. And sure enough, this was the main reason why neither film was that big of a hit with critics as they felt that they were just way too goofy to be taken seriously. However, to paraphrase the Rotten Tomatoes consensus for the first film, if you’re willing to accept all the ludicrous lengths that these films often go to, you’ll find them to be solidly entertaining action-adventure flicks that manage to overcome this potentially catastrophic shortcoming because of how well-directed they are. Thanks to the top-notch direction from Jon Turteltaub, these films fully succeed at maintaining the kind of fun and light-hearted atmosphere that has often defined the classics of the action-adventure genre, including, of course, the one franchise that I’m sure many have compared these films to over the years, the Indiana Jones series. They also benefit from some genuinely terrific pacing, which means that there’s never a dull moment that would give you enough time to poke holes in its logic, even if it’s during a scene where the characters are simply talking rather than partaking in one of their elaborate schemes. There’s just something about these characters gradually figuring out their next objective or the meaning behind the newest clue that they’ve found that’s utterly satisfying, and because of this, the moments where they finally find the fabled treasures more than deliver on the feeling of true emotional catharsis.

Obviously, a lot of this stems from what the discovery of these treasures means for Ben and his family. In the case of the first film, his quest to find the Templar treasure ends up proving all his family’s dissenters wrong who, for years, had thoroughly believed that it was one of history’s greatest myths. And as for Book of Secrets, the discovery of Cibola is the evidence that both he and his father needed to prove that Thomas Gates wasn’t the one who orchestrated Lincoln’s assassination. With that said, while I’m not going to spend too much time comparing these two films, especially due to the obvious reason of how similar they are, I will say that Book of Secrets arguably has a few slight advantages over its predecessor. Namely, the factor of the quest to clear Thomas Gates’ name makes the film’s stakes feel more personal. It’s also arguably a bit better-shot than the original, but I attribute that more to the natural evolution that most sequels go through rather than the fact that there was a notable change in cinematographers, with the first film being shot by Caleb Deschanel and the sequel handled by the duo of John Schwartzman and Amir Mokri. Really, though, at the end of the day, these two films are quite on par with each other when it comes to their overall quality. Both feature some excellent action set-pieces and they also benefit greatly from being largely shot on-location. Obviously, the big finales of both films were filmed on sets (which, to be fair, are great in their own right), but many of the key scenes were filmed at the proper historical landmarks, such as the National Archives, Mount Rushmore, and Mt. Vernon. And through it all, these two films are properly anchored by their great collection of likable protagonists portrayed by the franchise’s excellent ensemble cast.

It all begins, of course, with Nicolas Cage who, despite his usual reputation on the internet as one of the most over-the-top actors in the industry, delivers one of the more subdued performances of his career as Ben Gates. Sure, the sequel does give him a few instances where he delightfully chews the scenery (most notably in the sequence where he and Abigail ‘make a scene’ at Buckingham Palace), but overall, these films serve as a good example of how that reputation he’s garnered is perhaps a bit unwarranted. Diane Kruger is equally excellent as Abigail Chase who, despite some instances in the first film where she’s the damsel in distress, is almost immediately established as being Ben’s equal on an intellectual level. Naturally, this means that Kruger and Cage have wonderful chemistry, and while Book of Secrets does open with the two of them in an estranged relationship, the fact that it stems from Abigail wanting Ben to take her opinion more seriously does feel like a narratively appropriate conflict for these characters. And to close out the main trio, there’s Justin Bartha as the Gates family’s always reliable tech man Riley Poole, who also serves as the franchise’s biggest source of comic relief. Sure enough, he more than succeeds in that capacity as Ben’s lovably dorky sidekick (e.g. when the gang finally finds the treasure in the first film and Riley primarily takes pleasure… in finding the exit (“Look… stairs!”)). But at the same time, a lot of what makes Riley’s status as the comic relief work as well as it does is the terrific rapport that Bartha has with Cage, which really sells their characters’ friendship and how truly loyal Riley is to Ben’s endeavors regardless of whatever crazy scheme he comes up with. Riley also gets to have a great standout moment in the sequel where he gets to be the one to reveal the existence of the President’s ‘Book of Secrets’ thanks to his recently published book on the Templar treasure and other famous myths, especially once all his research is ultimately proven right when the gang finds it in the Library of Congress.

Moving over to the franchise’s supporting cast, the biggest standout of the bunch is Jon Voight as Ben’s father Patrick. Admittedly, he doesn’t factor into the first film that much up until the end where Ian and his crew take him hostage, but there is a real satisfaction to seeing Ben’s dad go from a guy who never believed in the treasure’s existence to someone more than happy to have been proven wrong and then proceeds to thoroughly relish in its discovery with his son. This then results in him having a more prominent role in the sequel where he has greater stakes in the quest to clear Thomas Gates’ name. After all, the story of Thomas’ sacrifice is one that had been directly passed down to him by his grandfather, Thomas’ son Charles, who had to witness the death of his father firsthand as seen in Book of Secrets’ opening scene. Another great standout is Harvey Keitel as FBI agent Peter Sadusky. While Sadusky’s primary role in the series is to be the one who pursues Ben whenever he commits a federal crime, he also forms a friendly rapport with Ben and is shown to have a natural understanding of the importance of the Templar treasure as evident from the reveal at the end of the first film that he’s a part of the Freemasons. The sequel also brings in some fun new additions to the cast, namely Helen Mirren as Ben’s mom (and Patrick’s estranged ex-wife) Emily and Bruce Greenwood as the President of the United States, who Ben, of course, ‘kidnaps’ to find out the location of the Book of Secrets. Their roles in the film are admittedly rather minor (even though Mirren does end up participating in the finale, where she and Voight prove to have some solid chemistry as Patrick and Emily begin to reconcile), but they’re both still very much welcome additions to the franchise.

Finally, we come to the main antagonists of this franchise, Ian Howe in the first film and Mitch Wilkinson in Book of Secrets, who are quite arguably the prime examples of how truly similar these two films are. Both characters are well-to-do businessmen with shady backgrounds who are always accompanied by a group of henchmen in their efforts to consistently stay on Ben and company’s tail. However, like I noted earlier, there does come a point near the end of each film where the two sides are forced to partake in an uneasy alliance to continue the hunt for the treasure, which ultimately doesn’t end well for the antagonists (in different ways that I’ll elaborate on later). Now, if I were to compare these two villains, it can be argued that Ian plays a more pivotal role in the first film’s plot than Mitch does in the sequel’s. In other words, almost every key sequence in the first film sees Ben, Abigail, and Riley being pursued by Ian and his team, which helps make them feel like more of a consistent threat. By comparison, despite the moment where they break into Patrick’s house and clone his phone to track their calls, there’s only one major sequence in Book of Secrets where Ben and company are directly chased by Mitch’s crew. And while they do end up taking Emily hostage in a moment that directly mirrors Ian’s move of kidnapping Patrick in the first film, they don’t cross paths again until after Ben has both ‘kidnapped’ the President and found the Book of Secrets. Ian also has the advantage over Mitch when it comes to having the more memorable set of henchmen, whereas Mitch’s henchmen are so one-note that they don’t even partake in the finale. Although to be fair, the first film did see one of Ian’s goons fall to his death so, if anything, Mitch’s crew did manage to dodge a bullet on that one. Ultimately, though, both Sean Bean and Ed Harris fully succeed at being solidly charismatic foils to Nicolas Cage. And despite everything that I’ve just said that would potentially imply that Mitch isn’t as good of a villain as Ian is, he does get the more interesting finale to his character arc when he nobly decides to stay behind to let Ben and his family escape from the flooding city of gold. It does result in his death, but Ben proceeds to honor this sacrifice by ensuring that Mitch is properly credited for Cibola’s discovery. By comparison, the first film simply concludes with Ian and his crew being arrested by the FBI.

But now we come to the biggest question surrounding the current state of this franchise… will there ever be a third National Treasure film? This is something that has seemingly been in the cards for more than a decade at this point since plans for a potential follow-up were, in fact, announced in 2008 not long after the release of Book of Secrets. But then, for the next few years, nothing really came out of this development apart from a few comments from the filmmakers that claimed that it was in the works. Part of this situation can arguably be attributed to the fact that, in 2014, Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney decided that they weren’t going to renew the first-look picture deal that Bruckheimer’s production company had with the studio. This was all during a time where Bruckheimer’s non-Pirates films weren’t doing so well financially, such as 2010's The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and, perhaps most infamously, 2013’s The Lone Ranger. Since then, the only film that Bruckheimer has made with Disney was the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, which, to its credit, was a reasonably successful hit at the box-office back in 2017. But now let’s flash forward to this year which, for Bruckheimer, began on a great note with the long-awaited third installment of the Bad Boys franchise, Bad Boys for Life, which still stands as the highest-grossing film of the year. And if that wasn’t enough, another highly anticipated follow-up to a Bruckheimer production that’s been in the works for quite some time, Top Gun: Maverick, is set to come out this December. But for the purpose of our current discussion, our focus shifts to the opening weekend for Bad Boys for Life, when it was announced that the film’s writer, Chris Bremner, was being brought on to become National Treasure 3’s new writer. Not only that, but back in May, Bruckheimer also announced that a National Treasure TV series was in the works for Disney+. And while it has been reported that this new show will be focusing on a different and younger cast, those same reports have also noted that the show itself will retain the same overall concept of its cinematic counterparts.

And so, I think it’s safe to say that after more than a decade of uncertainty, the long-proposed third installment of the National Treasure series will finally be seeing the light of day sometime in the future, which is a development that I’m more than excited about. While I’ll admit that my most recent viewings of these two films were the first time that I’d seen either of them in several years, I was immediately reminded as to why they were some of my favorite films growing up. In fact, I even still remember going to see them both in theaters when they first came out (the second film even came packaged with a Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater). Simply put, for a franchise that some could describe as being Disney’s attempt at trying to have their own Indiana Jones-style franchise (you know, before they acquired the Indy rights themselves…), I’d argue that they do succeed in that regard. Thanks to an excellent cast and solid direction from Jon Turteltaub, these films are incredibly entertaining popcorn flicks. Now, like I said before, I do recognize that these films can get incredibly silly when it comes to some of their big plot-threads. As such, I admittedly wouldn’t recommend that anyone use these films as a reference guide when it comes to U.S. history even though there are some legitimate historical facts (e.g. the letters that Benjamin Franklin wrote using the pseudonym ‘Silence Dogood’) that are peppered in alongside all the… well, not-so-true ones. But once again, I’d argue that Turteltaub’s stalwart direction is what ultimately kept these two productions from being undone by all that, and because of this, I think that the National Treasure films are some of the best examples of why you don’t always need a ‘smart’ script to deliver a great film.

As for ratings, I gladly give both the original National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets a 5/5! rating!

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) review

In 1816, German author E.T.A. Hoffman published The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which told the story of a young girl named Marie who ends up on a fantastical adventure with the sentient Nutcracker toy that was given to her at Christmas. But when it comes to the most famous interpretation of this story, that distinction goes to the 1892 ballet The Nutcracker, which was based off a revised version of Hoffman’s story written by Alexandre Dumas and featured music from composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. While its initial production did not fare well with critics, it has since gone on to be performed by numerous ballet groups worldwide, with Tchaikovsky’s music now regarded as some of the best and most recognizable melodies of all-time. The Nutcracker has also played a prominent role in the world of film thanks to its prominent use in Disney’s musical anthology film Fantasia and various film adaptations of the ballet that have been made over the years. And now Disney takes another crack at this story with The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, a film that experienced an interesting bit of development during its production. From the get-go, the film was directed by veteran filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom, whose work includes critically-acclaimed projects like 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and 1999’s The Cider House Rules. But when it was announced that the film would be undergoing a series of reshoots, it was revealed that Hallstrom was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. Fellow veteran filmmaker Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger) was brought in to direct the reshoots, and unlike the other major release this week that experienced a directorial switch-up during its production, Bohemian Rhapsody, Hallstrom and Johnston ended up sharing the film’s final directorial credit. What follows is a film that is truly something to behold when it comes to both its highlights and its shortcomings.

In the bustling city of Victorian-era London, young Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) regularly exhibits her passion for science and inventing, a trait that she’s inherited from her mother Marie. However, since her mother’s passing, Clara has grown emotionally distant from her family, especially her father (Matthew Macfadyen) who has pressured the family to maintain a respectable image amongst their peers in the wake of their recent tragedy. On Christmas Eve, Clara is given one last present from her mother in the form of a porcelain egg-shaped box that she cannot open as she doesn’t have the key for it. In her efforts to try and open it, Clara meets with her godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman), a noted inventor, during his annual Christmas party. And while he doesn’t have the key either, Clara is eventually led on an adventure to find it when she partakes in his annual gift-giving process by following a string through his mansion. This string ends up leading her into a fantastical world that is divided up into Four Realms, including the Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy (Keira Knightley), the Land of Flowers, ruled by Hawthorne (Eugenio Derbez), and the Land of Snowflakes, ruled by Shiver (Richard E. Grant). There, she learns that her mother was the queen of this world and helped bring all its inhabitants to life. However, the three main realms have also been in conflict recently with Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), the ruler of the Fourth Realm, the Land of Amusements, who had previously attempted to take over the whole kingdom. Learning that the key to her porcelain egg also operates a special device that can help them deal with Mother Ginger and her army of mice, Clara finds herself on a quest to retrieve the key so that she can save the Four Realms and gain a greater understanding of her mother’s past.  

Like many other recent live-action Disney films, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms does sport some amazing visuals that help bring the fantastical world of the Nutcracker to life. And sure, just like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland films, sometimes this film goes a bit overboard with its CGI but said CG is generally well-handled and is then bolstered by solid cinematography from Damien Chazelle’s go-to cinematographer Linus Sandgren. Things get a little more complicated, however, when it comes to its story. With no clear indication yet as to what parts of the film were done by Johnston rather than Hallstrom, there’s never really a point in the film where it feels like a direct competition between the visions of its two directors. And yet, there is a noticeable inconsistency when it comes to the film’s overall tone. While some parts of it are more serious in tone to emphasize the dramatic parts of the story (e.g. Clara learning more about her mother’s past), other parts of the film, namely anything that takes place within the Four Realms, are far more over-the-top in nature. These two extremes frequently collide over the course of the film and, simply put, they do not gel well together in the slightest. It also doesn’t help that the film has a very short 100-minute runtime. Once Clara enters the Four Realms, the film then speeds through its story at a break-neck pace. This results in a vastly underdeveloped plot that gives you no time to comprehend its biggest twist halfway through. And because of this, this reveal ends up feeling like it came completely out of nowhere and is easily one of the most substantial deviations from its source material outside of the infamous use of Nazi imagery in the 2010 film adaptation of the ballet (no joke, look it up…).   

This sense of unevenness also applies to the film’s cast, with half of them giving reserved, serious performances and the other half giving unabashedly over-the-top performances, and because of the film’s breezy pace, many of their characters don’t get much to do story-wise. But for the most part, several of them manage to do a good job with their limited material. Of them all, the most prominent standout of the cast is Mackenzie Foy in the lead role of Clara. In a cast that includes multiple Oscar winners and/or nominees, Foy impressively manages to carry the whole film as its sympathetic and smart female lead. She also works quite well with newcomer Jayden Fowora-Knight, who plays the title role of Philip the Nutcracker Soldier, who sticks with her through thick and thin while also being one of the saner characters in this crazy world. Another major standout is Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger who, despite being built up as the film’s main antagonist, ends up benefitting from the previously mentioned plot twist that reveals a bit more to her character than originally anticipated. But the one who is the most affected by this plot twist (and not exactly in as good of a way as Mirren) is Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy… though, to her credit, she does commit to this character and all the craziness that comes with it in a performance that can only be seen to be believed. And as for Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer? Well, despite what the marketing for this film suggests, he’s literally in it for about three to five minutes in the beginning and then he doesn’t show up again until the end.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms… is certainly a ‘unique’ film, I’ll give it that. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s as ‘bad’ as some critics are saying it is, but at the same time, it’s not that great, either. In fact, to be perfectly blunt, it’s quite a bit of a mess, though this isn’t entirely because the film ended up crediting two different directors. Ultimately its biggest issue is that it’s incredibly inconsistent with its tone, often going between serious drama and over-the-top kookiness in the blink of an eye. And despite the best efforts of some of its cast members, they’re all waylaid by an undercooked plot that bases itself around a mediocre plot twist in a film that goes by so fast that there’s no time to comprehend what just happened. Now to the film’s credit, it’s well-intentioned, at the very least, given that it’s a big-budget fantasy film that focuses on a young female protagonist who’s easily one of the most proactive iterations of her classic character. And just like other recent live-action Disney films like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful, this film does boast some gorgeous CGI visuals. But as innocuous as it is, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is just… bland, which is a shame given all the work that clearly went into it from a visual standpoint. Had it been given a bit more time to flesh out its story and characters, this could’ve turned out to be a decent new take on the classic story of the Nutcracker that wasn’t primarily based around its music.

Rating: 2/5