The 2004 film National Treasure not only fanned the flames of conspiracy, it also caused a
large portion of kids to pay more attention in history class.
But despite its popularity, adults can’t help but notice these obvious, distracting
moments.
A crucial part of National Treasure is the comic relief we get from Riley, the uninterested
computer wiz who just wants to find this treasure and get rich.
But Benjamin Gates won't simply let him do his thing until they arrive at their destination.
"Riley, you're not missing that little windowless cubicle we found you in, are you?"
"No, no, absolutely not."
Instead, Gates never misses an opportunity to show off how big of a nerd he is by giving
Riley a never-ending stream of history lessons.
With each new development, Riley is subjected to a boring lecture about the history of every
brick and stone.
There's even a brief moment where Riley knows something about history that the rest of the
group doesn't, and thankfully, he soaks up the moment because immediately after sharing
his knowledge, the dynamic shifts back with little acknowledgment of his contribution.
Sounds a bit familial, doesn't it?
Anyone who's ever gone on a road trip with their dad as a kid remembers stopping at an
empty field to read a plaque and knows exactly how Riley feels.
And it's that history vacation vibe that makes their dynamic so funny and so relatable to
the grown-ups watching.
Now imagine if each time your family minivan stopped off at some historic boulder, there
was a group of trigger-happy thugs not far behind.
Yeah, it would definitely put a damper on learning about that 200-year-old pole or that
ancient rock.
The first clue given to Benjamin is aboard a ship called The Charlotte, and in order
to reach its arctic location, he enlists the help of a mysterious benefactor named Ian.
When the two discover that the next clue is on the back of the Declaration of Independence,
they quickly conclude that the only way to find out for sure would be to steal it.
However, Benjamin refuses to help Ian steal the historical document, so the two beef it
out and blow up a ship, which lays out the good versus evil battle for the rest of the
two-hour scavenger hunt.
Benjamin has dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of a treasure beyond all imagining.
It shows nobility that he refuses to endanger the Declaration of Independence even though
they're closer to achieving his life's pursuit.
But then he twists his own logic around and decides that in order to protect the document,
he must steal the document.
Wait, what?!
"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence."
So, rather than just work with Ian, he told him no and then went off to do the same thing
without his help?
That's pretty inconsiderate.
Ian may have had experience in operations of questionable legality, but at every junction,
he lays out his requests reasonably and is constantly telling his men to calm it down
with all the shooting.
All the turmoil that developed throughout the film could've been avoided if Benjamin
had just worked with Ian to do the same thing he was going to do anyway.
The Declaration of Independence would've still been stolen, but no one would've been shot
at.
The FBI wouldn't be on their heels.
Also, as a little bonus, they still would've found the treasure.
Before they commit to stealing the Declaration of Independence, in true heist fashion, Riley
lays out the impossibility of it all.
The building is a fortress, and there are sensors, thermal monitoring, a vault surrounded
by loads of concrete — you know, the usual.
Considering this is the most important document in the history of the United States, it would
stand to reason that the entire building would be airtight, but not quite.
It's nothing that a power tool and a laptop can't penetrate.
And seriously, what's with the room that Riley just walks into and hooks up to the security
cameras?
Sure, your technological van guy needs eyes on the facility, but you would think a government
building would have a few hoops to jump through.
But not in National Treasure.
No hoops at all.
Riley waltzes into some random room that's unlocked and hooks up to the building's security
cameras through a tube of wires.
Now we're starting to see why being a bank robber seemed doable as a kid.
In National Treasure, the characters spend a large amount of time explaining how impenetrable
the security is around the Declaration of Independence.
Gates and Riley are laughed out of both the FBI and Homeland Security for even suggesting
that it could be stolen.
The quick little CGI demonstration of the document being lowered into its vault makes
it seem pretty secure.
Well, except when it's moved to a different room on the same weekend as a big gala, where
it's guarded by just one security guy.
Aside from the coincidental nature of the party the team uses to mask their heist, adults
watching National Treasure were also left wondering why an entire section of the building
was completely empty.
A suave, tuxedo-wearing Nicolas Cage saunters in and then scurries out carrying the whole
case.
There's even a second way to penetrate the building's defenses, which Ian takes through
a series of sewers and vents.
By this point in the film, it's apparent that nothing they're doing is all that difficult.
There's a whole lot of lemon action happening in National Treasure.
In addition to the compound that Benjamin makes to figure out Abigail's password, these
fruits help our heroes decipher a code on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
After the characters have stolen the document, they find themselves at Benjamin's father
Patrick's house, examining the historical parchment.
And it's a good thing there's a lemon nearby so they can gingerly swab the document in
search of a hidden map.
Once they discover it works, they seek out more lemons.
In most households, a lemon or two may be standard.
Those couple of lemons may even sit in the fridge for weeks until their purpose is revealed.
But history buffs dance to a different tune, apparently.
Patrick Gates appears to lead a life of solitude, complete with pizza and soda for dinner in
his bachelor pad, surrounded by history relics and books.
Fellow adults were left wondering why such a man has a large portion of his fridge space
being taken up by a huge bowl of lemons.
Perhaps the Gates patriarch is fighting off a kidney stone, or maybe sucking the sour
citrus down to the rind each morning helps him feel alive.
Whatever the reason, the treasure hunters are lucky he's such a fan of lemons.
At one point in the film, Benjamin Gates and his crew are about to head off in search of
their next clue ... but first, they stop off to change clothes.
While changing in separate stalls, Benjamin and Abigail display a rare moment of chemistry.
Changing rooms in every store across America are a private endeavor, complete with personal
lock and his and her sections.
Even from a progressive standpoint though, the changing rooms these two are conversing
in seem a bit revealing.
The way the shot is set up also makes it appear as though the entire store is able to look
in on them changing.
They're stripping down to their skivvies with two weird Old West saloon doors barely covering
them up to about chest height.
It's certainly a different setup from the usual Urban Outfitters.
While we'd like to believe that it's a quiet statement about equality and not being ashamed
of our bodies, it's mostly obvious that the filmmakers wanted a still frame shot of both
the stars talking.
And while we don't know for sure, we're willing to guess that Disney laid out exactly how
much skin could be shown, and they cut their little saloon doors out to their exact specifications.
When there's an incident like someone stealing the Declaration of Independence, it stands
to reason that the FBI would be called in to hunt down the perpetrators.
After all, the FBI has a vast arsenal of knowledge and resources at their disposal.
The leader of the task force, Agent Peter Sadusky, has all the characteristics of a
smart and efficient team leader.
But despite all these attributes, there seems to be little noise heard about the British
gunmen chasing Americans across the country, firing clip after clip around national monuments.
There are several moments in the movie when Benjamin and his crew find themselves dodging
a hail of bullets.
National Treasure filmmakers would have you believe that the silencers the bad guys have
on their guns mask all the mayhem, but adults see right through the illusion.
Silencers don't completely silence the sound of a gunshot, and it's hard to ignore a woman
and two men running for their lives while being chased by burly men brandishing pistols.
So ... not a single alert was passed along to the FBI about any of this?
Evidently not.
In fact, the thing they seem to be most focused on is the moment when Benjamin uses his credit
card after the heist.
So much for innocent until proven guilty.
The Declaration of Independence spends most of National Treasure encased in a sturdy tube
within another sturdy tube.
It gets blow-dried.
It gets covered in lemon juice.
It gets thrown into traffic.
But luckily, it doesn't fall a few stories in a mine shaft, thanks to the quick thinking
and impeccable timing of the one and only Nicolas Cage.
Historical significance aside, there's little doubt that every adult couple watching National
Treasure got a sideways glance when Ben dropped Abigail in order to save the tube of history.
The logical decision would've been to save the girl and let the document drop down the
shaft safely in its durable casing.
They were all headed down to the bottom anyways.
Even Ben can't believe he made that choice.
When Abigail says she would've done the same thing, he stares back at her, bewildered,
and whimpers,
"Really?"
The chemistry between the two leads is off, and it rubs any grown human the wrong way.
The young National Archive employee went from her posh office to being kidnapped, shot at,
and dropped down a mine shaft, then succumbs to the charms of a 40-year-old treasure hunter
... who was the one who dropped her in the first place.
Seems reasonable.
Quick thinking and vast historical knowledge across two generations leaves the crew stranded
at the bottom of some catacombs but free of Ian's strong-arm tactics.
And once our heroes escape back out into fresh air, Ben contacts the FBI and offers Sadusky
someone to send to jail.
The Freemason Federal agent obliges and sets off to arrest Ian for a slew of charges.
Benjamin Gates tags along because the discovery of an enormous treasure room isn't enough
for the glory hunter.
The historian portrays an urge to rub it in Ian's face with some drama.
When Sadusky arrests Ian outside the church he was led to, Ben steps out from the shadows
in a nearby doorway to smile at Ian.
It stands to reason that all the FBI agents were positioned nearby, ready to pounce, but
what was Ben's story there?
The man went from facing a lifetime in prison to having the FBI let him lurk on someone's
front porch in the shadows.
There must have been a significant amount of time that he was waiting there, hiding
from the light.
It does make the ending pretty humorous, picturing Nicolas Cage hiding in a dark doorway, brimming
with excitement as he hears the chains on the nearby church clink against the bolt cutters.
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