Jon Turtletaub's best film must endure the critics propensity to penalize highly popular commercially successful family-friendly Disney films... "What does the common folk know about filmmaking?" It's much better than most of those reviews indicate.

Yes, this film works hard to be likable and appealing to a mass audience - perhaps it's just too preposterous a story, and has too much witty repertoire to be taken seriously by some critics. Witty repertoire CAN wear thin and become precocious in movies, but in 'National Treasure', it's the film's most endearing and appealing factor, carried off successfully by some of the most experienced actors in the business - They keep the film fun and pull off their quips with deft skill - Bravo!

A well casted, directed and edited film that doesn't pretend to be more than it is, and delivers what audiences came to see.

Enjoy this snappy-paced treasure hunt Disney ride without guilt - it's OK to have escapism fun watching movies, and this one does it as well as any, so grab a bowl of popcorn and indulge yourself.

Here we have a classical Nicholas Cage film that will carry into the future. It is the peak of 'follow the clues' type of adventure film. The premise is just obscene enough to create this funny air over the movie and has enough twists and turns that keep the audience engaged. The villain is a very standard villain but it is nice that they nearly mirror our heroes in treasure hunting prowess. It is simple and not necessarily the most impressive but overall I would have to consider it one of the quintessential Nick Cage films.

This film is hard to sum up with a single rating. I really wish I could give it three scores: One for how much I personally liked it, how good the film is historically and how entertaining the film is.

For me, the film was a 3 or 4--mostly because I just don't like this type of film. Action films often bore me because I like characters with depth and the characters in NATIONAL TREASURE are cartoon-like and one-dimensional with little to make me connect with them. Now this isn't to say that I dislike all action films, but this one just seemed like a long string of plot devices and gimmicks strung together. The logical leaps they used to solve each riddle were just silly. And, again and again, I found myself guessing correctly what was coming next--the script was amazingly predictable and poor given that so much money was spent on special effects and high-priced actors.

As far as the historical value, I'm going to need to bite my tongue a bit. I am an American History teacher and need to keep reminding myself that I must suspend disbelief--after all, Disney did not intend this as a real history lesson. Sadly, however, when I talked to my students about the film, it was amazing how many thought the film DID have an actual historical basis!! Well, I can't blame Disney for the fact that kids don't know their history (well, I guess I could launch into an attack on the historical errors in POCAHONTAS but I need to keep on topic). At least the film gets people thinking about history, so that's something, so I'll give it a 5--though all the mumbo-jumbo about the Masons, secret codes, etc. was all a lot of hooey.

As far as entertainment for the masses go, the film is fun, slick and well-crafted (aside from the writing, that is). The film looks great and has a bigger than life feel that is at times reminiscent of INDIANA JONES and other action films. For an undemanding audience, it's going to keep their attention. In this regard, it deserves a 7 or 8. It looks pretty and is nice escapism.

So overall, I'd say the film deserves a 5. While I hated much of the film and would rather eat glass than see it again because of the style of film and clichéd writing, I also realize I am a very picky person and there's nothing wrong with some mindless entertainment now and again. For kids and anyone who tends to not look for plot problems, this could be a very entertaining film. For smug guys like me, you would probably do better with an independent or foreign film, documentary or silent film--you know, the kinds of film NORMAL people don't like.