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Until very recently, if you had asked me what my favorite movie was, I would have lied to you. I would have wracked my brain for the coolest movie I’d seen in the last twelve months and I would have said that instead of telling the truth. In all honesty, my favorite movie is — and always has been — the 2004 cinematic classic: National Treasure.
If you somehow haven’t seen it, National Treasure is a film about the descendant of a long line of disgraced treasure seekers who discovers a secret map on the back of The Declaration of Independence which might lead to the treasure his family has spent generations seeking. Maybe the plot is a little bonkers, but that’s what makes it so great. So, once and for all I’d like to make my stand on this movie clear. National Treasure is the best movie ever made, and you cannot fight me on this. Not because your point is invalid, but because I will not listen to you.
The face of a man who has just stolen the Declaration of Independence.
So, maybe — like me — you’re already obsessed with this movie, but maybe you saw it once or twice as a kid and not since, or somehow you’ve never seen it. No matter what your situation is, I have one thing to say to you: It’s time to re-watch National Treasure.
The First Reason to Re-Watch National Treasure? It’s Fun
First off, this movie has aged like a fine wine (opening sequence CGI exempted). The pacing is great, the jokes are genuinely funny, and the cast is fantastic. Starring Oscar Winner Nicolas Cage, from an era when that was still primarily how people thought of him (( as opposed to Albino Cobra Owner, Nicolas Cage )), as Benjamin “Ben” Franklin Gates with a supporting cast which includes Sean Bean as Ian Howe, Diane Kruger as Dr. Abigail Chase, Jon Voight as Ben’s father Patrick, and the underrated Justin Bartha as Riley Poole.
It doesn’t seem like they should mesh well, but they do. Their strange, slightly manic, combined energy helps propel the plot forward and take the film beyond knock-off Indiana Jones status.
Sometimes things can get a little unstable.
There are so many delightfully strange scenes in this film, and it’s surprising that it’s not memed more. The one scene from this movie which seems to be making the rounds involves the scene where Abigail has to leap behind the butcher counter to hide from Ian’s right-hand-man while in a meat market. The retail worker, reacting with a slightly bored look as if she’s seen this sort of behavior a hundred times already (which, as anyone who’s worked retail can confirm, she probably has) and says, with absolute deadpan delivery,
“If you’re not a steak, you don’t belong here.”
When Abigail claims that her pursuer is her ex-husband, the other woman sizes him up and immediately tells Abigail that she can stay as long as she wants. Honestly, there is no reason why they had to make this scene so good. It’s just so immensely funny. I love the deadpan delivery. I love women-supporting-women solidarity. I’d hide behind that meat counter any day of the week. The meat market lady is the real hero of this film, and the true National Treasure. An icon. Enough said.
There’s another great scene much earlier in the film with Ben’s father, Patrick. While Patrick is hilarious in most of the scenes he’s in, one, in particular, stands out. It’s when the FBI storms his house, expecting to find… who knows what, and instead they bust in on Patrick, who is comfortably duct-taped to a chair, remote in one hand, drink in the other. Patrick loudly slurping his drink while staring down the FBI team is a real power move. The juxtaposition is phenomenal and the payoff is unexpected. Of course, if I were to continue naming every great scene in this movie, I could go on all day, and that time is better spent just re-watching the film.
National Treasure Has Well Written Villains
One of my absolute favorite things about this movie is how they wrote the villains. They aren’t necessarily the most dastardly, although Ian Howe does plan a pretty daring crime or even the most well-rounded characters, they are treated as characters first and henchmen second. It would have been very easy for Ian Howe and his associates to be simple thugs, but each one of them has their own personality which stays consistent throughout the film.
All this time, and they never thought to look at what was on the back.
It’s important to note that most of the characters who later find themselves at odds start the film as coworkers, and friendly ones at that. There was a repeated reference to a standing poker game they all used to play. What I’m saying is that at some point, a point in the not-so-recent past, these characters were friendly, if not friends. This is a dynamic that I think most films would have abandoned fairly quickly, but National Treasure makes the most of it.
Standoffs usually include some limited small talk where it’s clear that they know things about each other — that they have a history. All of this is built on in order to give Ian’s associates their own distinct personalities which they maintain throughout the film, and it enhances the narrative.
Ian and his boys.
Another fun thing about Ian Howe (( whose true identity is never revealed after a throwaway line from one of the FBI guys reveals that Ian’s name is a pseudonym )) is that he’s British. This means, of course, that he automatically cares a lot less about the Declaration of Independence than Ben Gates & Co., but it’s also parallel to the American Revolution itself.
This detail, in retrospect, seems glaringly obvious, but I will admit that it never occurred to me until my most recent re-watch of the film. Fans of Sean Bean and his many on-screen deaths might be disappointed (or relieved) that this is one of the few parts that he’s got to walk away from.
Finally, Some Good Historians
Ben & co. examine the Declaration of Independence in a safe and sanitary environment.
Another surprisingly rare occurrence in the adventure genre is that the main characters seem to genuinely care about history. By the scale of adventurer heroes, Ben Gates is actually a pretty good one. He would never destroy an ancient temple just to get a gold statue, unlike, say, Indiana Jones—who, for the record, while fun, is actually a pretty terrible archeologist. That is, of course, one of the main defining differences between the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in this film. It has been repeatedly made clear that Ben Gates & Co. (with the possible exception of Riley) are in the chase for history, while Ian Howe and his associates are only there for the treasure.
From how they handle the clues, to how Ben handles the FBI, and perhaps most importantly what Ben decides to do once they actually find the treasure, all really support the idea that it is history, rather than gold, which is the true treasure. This film is able to conjure up real awe around American history. Even now, when I have a more nuanced view of American history than I did as an elementary schooler watching this on the big screen and I view the founding fathers as people with real and substantial flaws rather than as figures of American mythology, that scene in the signing room of Independence Hall never fails to give me chills.
Riley Poole Is An Icon
Riley Poole is an enigma and an icon. Whether he’s complaining about the old person smell in Ben’s dad’s car, speculating on the origin of the pyramids (definitely aliens), or complaining about his cut of the finder’s fee, Riley steals more than just the Declaration of Independence — he steals every scene he’s in.
As a character, morally he’s somewhere between Ben and Ian and it’s unclear which of them initially hired him; plus, he seems like a bit of a third wheel on Ian’s original team. Since Riley is often the character used as a proxy for the viewer, who is expected to be an elementary school-aged child, he’s the one who is usually asking questions — which can be a bit distracting at times but leads up to some really delightful reversals.
A measley one half of one percent.
One such reversal near the middle of the film involves Riley’s knowledge of the history of Daylight Savings Time; a topic that Ben and Abigail are surprisingly ill informed about. but it’s preceded by another scene that always stuck out to me. Ben and Abigail have a semi-serious discussion about their feelings, but it’s not the discussion that stands out— it’s the setting. They’re in this utterly bizarre dressing room area which had these very small doors they could easily converse over, and it always seemed very strange until a recent re-watch where I realized that the outside of the shop is shown and that they’re in an Urban Outfitters.
The weird dressing rooms are completely consistent with my experience with other, equally weird, Urban Outfitters dressing rooms. This does, however, raise the question of why the team would decide to blow their very limited budget on head-to-toe outfits from pricey Urban Outfitters. And what about Riley? Doesn’t he deserve some new threads? Does he not get any just because he wasn’t in formalwear when they went on the lan? Frankly, it seems unfair. While Riley is finally getting his time to shine is great, he is at his most iconic while in the treasure room. While all of the characters have their own moments among the treasure, watching Riley wander around, totally overwhelmed, and seeing the things that he is drawn to is absolutely hilarious.
The Franchise Is Expanding & It’s Time To Catch Up
There couldn’t be a better time to watch National Treasure than right now. After spending some time on Netflix, National Treasure has recently moved over to Disney +, presumably to support some spin-offs which have been in the works. Disney has allegedly been cooking up a couple of National Treasure-related projects, including a spin-off TV show and the long-awaited National Treasure 3.
While details about these spinoffs are still few and far between, there is one thing that seems pretty definite. The TV show will, unsurprisingly, feature a new, younger, cast. Now, this could mean a variety of things. It could mean that the show will center on a group of shiny twentysomethings a la Blood & Treasure (another great watch for fans of the Adventure genre), or it could possibly be another vehicle for the latest tween sensation to cartwheel off the Disney Star assembly line. Personally, I’m holding out hope for guest appearances from some of the original cast; maybe Reilly Poole could mentor a new generation of up-and-coming adventurers.
Benjamin Franklin Gates communes with his namesake.
As for anyone who wants to see Nicolas Cage on the small screen, you might have to wait for his upcoming portrayal of Joe Exotic. Now, about the rumored third film — you don’t have to look further than National Treasure 2 (( a solid sequel in its own right. Adding Dame Helen Mirren to the mix? Inspired )) to make some predictions. I’m talking, of course, about The President’s Book — and more specifically about what may or may not be on page 47.
“Look… stairs.” – Riley Poole
Will it confirm the existence of aliens? If Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is an accurate prediction of how that’d go, I hope not. Truth is, I could speculate about this all day, but suffice it to say that if we don’t find out what’s in that book during National Treasure 3, so help me, I will go voice my anger to Mr. Mickey Theodore Mouse himself.
It’s Never A Bad Time To Watch National Treasure
If none of the above has inspired you to dig out your old DVD’s or fire up Disney+, then I really don’t know what else to tell you. You’ll laugh, you’ll be hit with weird, uncharacteristic waves of patriotism, and maybe you’ll even start going “Where’s door number three?” whenever you’re faced with making a decision. More than any of that, you’ll have a good time.
In many ways, National Treasure is about owning the things that make you who you are and having the dedication to follow your bliss, whatever that might mean. Perhaps that self-confidence was the real treasure all along? Or, maybe the real treasure was the piles of gold and priceless historical artifacts hidden beneath Parkington Lane.