A national treasure

I admit that I didn't hate “National Treasure”. Sure, the plot looks like a parody of “The Da Vinci Code”, but then, maybe it *is* a parody of Dan Brown's bestselling novel? Or rather Brown's sources, since the two projects were near-contemporary. Other obvious sources of inspiration include the “Indiana Jones” flicks and “Romancing the Stone”.

Nicolas Cage stars a conspiracy theorist actually named Benjamin Franklin who steals the Declaration of Independence (!) to find secret codes revealing the location of the famed treasure of the Knights Templar. Then, the hunt is on, with our hero being chased by evil treasure-hunters, FBI agents and (perhaps) Templars. Meanwhile, various more or less farfetched clues to the whereabouts of the treasure are analyzed by Franklin's team, including computer geek Riley, who is nerdy without being cringy.

“National Treasure” was popular in Sweden back in the days, and I can see why. If you like lighter entertainment of the Indy & Joan Wilder variety, this is probably for you. If not, lighten up, for heaven's sake!