National Treasure: Edge of History

The burn is slow; by the fourth episode you may care as much about Jess finding romance with Liam as Aztec booty.

I gave this show every benefit of the doubt, I wanted to get on board so badly, but so far the show isn’t a treasure worth searching for. Edge of History needs fun historic riddles with zany characters. But instead the show is just riddled with missed opportunities.

Do you miss noise and bombast? Do you miss goodhearted, mindless entertainment? Do you miss the 80s? The 90s? Well, take heart, my friends, because they’re all back, courtesy of the new Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History.

There’s a zaniness to it that reflects the kind of chaos present in not just the original National Treasure, but all of Nicolas Cage’s films, and if you love treasure hunts, riddles, and puzzles, the show builds itself around the solving of them, even if the answers turn out to be a bit goofy.

While Olivera makes an appealing lead, the too-familiar romantic wrinkles and hormonal entanglements prove to be more of a distraction than an enhancement, leaving behind a series that resembles its papi just enough to be sporadically fun, but one that makes the trip to where X marks the spot feel that much longer.

It just feels like one of those shows that doesn’t trust its audience, spelling every emotional beat and bland plot development out in bold, highlighted dialogue. Teen viewers are smarter than Hollywood thinks. They always have been. The real mystery is why writers never figure that out.

It’d be too much to expect in-depth cultural analysis from a franchise that’s mostly about people solving ridiculous puzzles left by historical figures. ... The series’ attempts to capture Gen Z culture more broadly are similarly half-assed. ... Edge of History‘s most fatal affliction, however, is its total lack of charisma.

The more the remaining original characters are present, the more acute the absence of the principals becomes. The show’s two worlds collide early and often, and every time awkwardly, as if the reboot and the sequel are jockeying for attention. “Edge of History” is two halves of a show poorly welded together. ... “Edge of History” also feels like self-parody, but a far less fun variety born of a futile effort to look forward and backward simultaneously.