WHO MADE IT? | Director: Jon Turteltaub Cast: Nicholas Cage, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Justin Bartha and Christopher Plummer | WHAT'S IT ABOUT? | Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage), along with six generations of his family, has spent his whole life searching for the legendary Knights Templar treasure, believed to be buried somewhere in America. He finally discovers the clue that will lead to the big prize - a hidden map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. His arch rival, Ian Howe (Bean), is also after the treasure, so Gates teams up with techno-geek Riley (Bartha) and National Archives Conservator Abigail Chase (Kruger) to get to it first. | WHAT'S IT LIKE? | A cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Mummy, with a hint of Mission Impossible thrown in. Once you get past the first twenty minutes of exhausting history recap (Knights Templar and the Gates family) and establishing the baddie, it kicks into full adrenaline fuelled mode. It's thrilling, gripping and very entertaining. Cage plays Ben with a spirited humour, the straight man to Bartha's wise-cracking high-tech sidekick, while Bean performs another masterful job as the villain. It's nail biting fun for all the family although the kids might find it a bit on the long side. | NATIONAL TREASURE opens on 26 December 2004
