Twenty years ago this month, one of the wildest movies that Nicolas Cage ever made hit theaters and became a sensation. National Treasure brought in $347.5 million worldwide and gave Disney one of its few original action franchises that it didn’t purchase from another studio. Director Jon Turteltaub’s film was also critic-proof, because audiences loved National Treasure no matter how ridiculous it got.
But two decades is a long time, especially in cinema. And now that National Treasure has crossed over from Disney+ to Hulu, this is the perfect time to share the reasons why this is the one Hulu movie that you need to watch in November.
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The movie embraces its ridiculous premise
If you’ve ever seen the meme of Nicolas Cage saying he’s going to steal the Declaration of Independence, it came from this movie. And why would anyone want to do that? To get the hidden map to a lost Freemason treasure, of course. The film’s story invents a ludicrous backstory to support this, even as it peppers in a few bits of real history that don’t really have anything to do with the story at hand.
Once it gets started, National Treasure never shies away from how ridiculous the story is. If anything, it doubles and triples down on the premise. There are plenty of movies that would have collapsed under the weight of this film’s mythology. But somehow, it’s just a fun ride all the way through, thanks in large part to Cage himself.
Nicolas Cage is a national treasure
The main character, Benjamin Franklin Gates, is basically Cage’s idea of a modern Indiana Jones, only even more idiosyncratic. Cage plays his character with full conviction and absolutely manic energy throughout. Cage is very funny in the role, but his secret to making the character work is that he doesn’t just play him for laughs.
Gates is just inherently hilarious, and some of the film’s biggest laughs come from the way Cage plays him. He’s the only actor we could ever see playing this history/treasure expert.
The supporting cast are all solid performers
Game of Thrones‘ Sean Bean gets to play Cage’s foil as the villain of the movie, Ian Howe. He wants the treasure even more than Gates does, which is why the latter had to steal the Declaration of Independence in the first place. Much like Cage, Bean seems to fit perfectly into his role, and that’s true for most of the supporting cast.
Justin Bartha is great as Riley Poole, the straight man to Cage’s Gates, while Jon Voight and Christopher Plummer bring some humanity and gravitas to their turns as Gates’ father and grandfather, respectively. In theory, Harvey Keitel’s Agent Peter Sadusky is a secondary antagonist because he’s after Gates for stealing the Declaration of Independence. But he’s just too likable in the role to ever be taken for a bad guy.
The one performer who doesn’t quite have the right chemistry with Cage is Diane Kruger, who plays Dr. Abigail Chase, his love interest and somewhat unwilling accomplice. It’s hard to buy into their romantic chemistry, but Cage does get some very funny moments while interacting with her.
It’s an over-the-top action flick in the Bruckheimer tradition
If National Treasure feels like a Simon West- and Michael Bay-style action film from the ’90s, it’s not a coincidence. Cage starred in West’s Con Air and Bay’s The Rock, both of which were produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
Despite its PG rating, National Treasure recaptures a lot of the tone from those earlier Bruckheimer films. That style doesn’t always play well with critics, but it’s proven to be a winning formula with audiences.
There are sequels waiting for you after the film
If you like National Treasure, the great news is that there’s a sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, that’s already on Hulu as well. National Treasure 3 has yet to materialize, but Disney+ does have another sequel in the form of a TV spinoff called National Treasure: Edge of History. It’s largely a standalone story with new characters, but Bartha and Keitel both make guest appearances as Riley Poole and Peter Sadusky, respectively, which links the show to the films that came before it.
There may not be any more National Treasure projects on the horizon, but we wouldn’t bet against this franchise making another comeback — hopefully with Cage on board next time.
Watch National Treasure on Hulu.
