National Treasure
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: November 19, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
15
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
If you're going to tell a wildly implausible tale of fortune hunting and unlikely heroes, you could do worse than National Treasure. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Too bad the clever bits are swamped by no-brainer gunfights, rescues, and chases galore. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Too dumb and improbable to even go into. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
It runs like a Swiss watch, though the plot continuously turns on Cage's liberal interpretation of ridiculously cryptic clues. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It has no ambition, little sense and false sentiment, but it does have velocity, high spirits and scale. Read full review
50
VarietyScott Foundas
Tries to combine the suspense of old Saturday morning serials with the gusto of producer Jerry Bruckheimer's action pics. Falling short on both counts, this long, and long-winded, series of middling cliffhangers won't pump the adrenaline of action aficionados or -- the family crowd. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
National Treasure is as doggedly hokey and ham-handed as a Disneyland ride. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Nicolas Cageologists will be sad to hear that he's entirely too normal in National Treasure -- he's mildly funny but doesn't make any of the kooky dramatic choices (needless accents, ranting about the orifices of Greek gods) that made his other Bruckheimer performances so much fun to watch. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Jon Voight shows up as Ben's daddy, and Harvey Keitel plays a devilishly goateed FBI agent: They're the only two actors who seem to have a sense of how ridiculous National Treasure is, but there's not enough of them to carry the picture. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
National Treasure is so silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Coming from writers responsible for such material as "Snow Dogs" and "The 6th Day," National Treasure is not so much a no-brainer as a brain-stunner, so audaciously ridiculous you are initially intrigued, then soon irritated by its incoherence. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The character of a scruffy computer nerd, played with might-as-well-enjoy-myself charm by little-known actor Justin Bartha, steals the picture from glossier players. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
Ham-handed to start, with a fondness for cochlea-crushing decibel levels, National Treasure gets more entertaining as the preposterousness rises. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Can't match an ounce of the suspense generated by contestants frantically buying airline tickets on Bruckheimer's own TV money quest, "The Amazing Race." This movie is a fortune wasted. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's a silly, stupendously artificial enterprise. Read full review
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