After receiving a 45 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, I think it is safe to say that the 2004 American adventure film, National Treasure, had its fair share of problems. Despite this, it was nominated for multiple awards, like the BMI Film & TV Awards for musical score, the Visual Effects Society Awards for best use of models and miniatures, and the World Stunt Awards for Diane Kruger’s deserving stunt-work in kissing Nicolas Cage.
To start out, we have young Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) walking through this fire hazard of an attic. I would love to understand why his grandfather has a whole boat and what appears to be Susan's horn from The Chronicles of Narnia. Also, how tied to American history can they possibly be? At the bottom of this frame, you see that the American flag is just kind of sloppily thrown close to the floor.
Benjamin’s grandfather, John (Christopher Plummer) tells him two things: That the secret of the treasure lies with Charlotte and the hills are alive with the Sound of Music (not really) (but can you imagine?).
Let's pretend Jon Voight doesn't exist for the time being. Hopefully he got 0% of the National Treasure.
Let's pause here. I believe it would be a disservice if we did not spend a brief moment to touch on the names of these characters. The entire Gates family seems to have taken a page out of Harry Potter’s book. Benjamin Gates’ father is named Patrick Henry Gates, and his grandfather is named John Adams Gates. (Son, you are named after the best rapper in the Revolutionary War, Marquis de Lafayette Gates.)
And John Adams Gates introduces us to his grandfather's grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Gates--- record scratch so how long has this weird naming tradition gone on? I had assumed that it only started once they were connected to the history of the Knights Templar but apparently it starts even further back than that. And what's fun about this is that Thomas Jefferson Gates is played by Jason Earles aka Jackson from Hannah Montana!
Ben Gates' grandfather tells Ben what was told to Jackson Stewart by Charles Carroll (Terrence Currier): "The secret lies with Charlotte." THRILLING but this is 1832. Assuming that our story takes place around the premiere of the film in 2004 (emphasized by the fact that the badge they steal to get into the Archives' Gala expires in 2005), that means that the Gates family has held on to the only known clue to finding the NATIONAL TREASURE for YEARS and accomplished NOTHING.
Therefore, Benjamin Gates makes history for being the only member of the Gates family to actually do anything productive: he finds the Charlotte. The Charlotte is a ship that was stuck in the Canadian Arctic, a nod to the actual Charlotte that was built in 1784 and used to carry convicts. To summarize, this is a fantastic discovery that could lead to incredible historical progress. Ben Gates finds the Charlotte with a water bottle and a guy who broke a shoelace. And within 18 minutes of screen time, he proceeds to blow it up. This is a recurring theme in the film: Over the span of 2 hours and 11 minutes, Benjamin ruins the Declaration of Independence, a wall at Independence Hall, and the poor grave of Parkington Lane, releasing a pretty nasty pissed off ghost on the entire area of Trinity Church. Hear me out: Ben Gates is a pyromaniac.
But before they blow up the ship, they find a clue that reads "The legend writ, the stain affected, the key in Silence undetected, fifty-five in iron pen, Mr. Matlack can't offend." This goon above is convinced that the clue is pointing to 'prison.'
We then meet Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger), an archivist at the National Archives who outs them as treasure hunters. Ben Gates corrects her, stating that they are "treasure protectors." Not telling her about Charlotte, huh, Ben?
The plan is set and Ben and Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) have to steal the Declaration of Independence in order to save it. To do this, they have to get the Declaration into the preservation room where it will be easier to steal. In order for that to happen, they have to set off the internal alarm with a fairly obvious laser, causing Abigail Chase and co. to go and retrieve it. But of course they have do all this while blatantly framing Grandma who is just trying to enjoy her trip to D.C.
On the day of the Gala, the plan is in motion and they show up in perhaps the most obvious red van in movie thieving history.
They are able to discern Abigail Chase's password to the preservation room by seeing where she touched the keyboard with the spy ink they planted on her. Her password is "Valley Forge." She has the password to one of the most heavily guarded rooms in America and the girl can't even pick a secure password with a special character?
Ben Gates gets into a brawl with our villains of the film, bald man and Ned Stark! They begin to fire at him so that they can get the Declaration. But don't worry; Benny shields himself with the Declaration of Independence! Remember: Abigail asked him if he was a treasure hunter and he said he was a "treasure protector." Sure, Jan.
And after pretty standard DC rush hour drama, the trio seeks refuge from the police at Ben's father's residence. With the stolen Declaration of Independence in hand, they know that the FBI is probably at Ben's house/apartment - that he has decorated with a large image of a one-dollar bill in his kitchen.
Although this is all incredibly problematic, nothing is more unbelievable than when Benjamin Gates, Riley Poole, and Dr. Abigail Chase are trying to find the hidden map on the back of the stolen Declaration of Independence. Once they reach the house, Patrick Henry Gates lectures his son on ruining his life to find the treasure. Always a stubborn one, Benjamin continues his search for the hidden map. Once they have the Declaration laid out on the kitchen table, Ben grabs a slice of lemon that they just happen to have and lifts it to the document. He's literally just going to spritz the Declaration of Independence. It has been established that the acidity of lemon juice is essential to revealing a hidden message. (But this doesn't explain why they have what seems to be baking soda, red wine vinegar (?) and multiple vials of food coloring.) Dr. Chase stops him, getting a Q-tip to spread the lemon juice over the historic artifact. When nothing appears, Patrick Gates tells them that they need heat. The pair leans over and breathes on the document in a weirdly sexual way that left viewers uncomfortable. Their hot breath allows the invisible messages to appear and the two decide that they need more juice and they need more heat. They grab a hair dryer and a bowl of lemons from the refrigerator and begin to get to work.
Let’s pause right there. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, scientifically this is ridiculous. The simplest ‘invisible ink’ is formed using lemon juice or vinegar. To reveal writing, all you need is heat. In the film, Ben and Abigail brush lemon juice all over the document as a ‘developer,’ but really, they would just be essentially using white out on the entire document. Plus, their hot breath would not even remotely be enough heat to reveal the invisible ink.
So, this gets into the biggest plot hole of the whole film: Why on earth did Patrick Henry Gates, with no warning whatsoever, have an entire bowl of lemons in the fridge?
To quickly go over some plot points: They arrive in Philadelphia at about 12:30 AM. It takes about 3 hours to drive from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia, so they had to leave at around 9:30 PM. From the film, it did not look like they spent too long at Ben’s father’s house. This means that they had to get there at around 8:30 PM at the earliest. At this point, Patrick still has warm pizza. Ben even tells his father that it’s late and he should go to bed, but Patrick will not, saying that he isn’t tired. In the clips we get of Patrick’s home, he has a sizable bar with gin, whisky, and other selections. Based on the fact that he orders a large pizza just for himself and the fact that his fridge has little else but a bottle of Pepsi, it seems that Patrick is not a big chef, so he’s not using those lemons for cooking. When Patrick serves the FBI officer, Harvey, iced tea, there are no lemons in it. It does not seem like he’s using it as a garnish there.
In conclusion, Patrick Henry Gates is an alcoholic. He is clearly using it in garnishes for cocktails; that’s the only reason why he would have nine whole lemons in his fridge at once. He blatantly calls himself the “family kook” and feels alienation from the rest of the family. As mentioned in this film and discussed in the next film, he is still not over his divorce with Ben’s mother. Benjamin Franklin Gates spent so long looking for this famed treasure, that he could not even see that his family situation was falling apart right in front of his nose. Maybe the true national treasure was the clarity he found along the way.
After his father explains that he does not have the information Ben wants, Ben demonstrates exactly how to not take off your gloves. Stay safe, kids.
While Riley recruits a small child to help them figure out the treasure, Ben and Abigail go to Urban Outfitters where they change behind these comically short almost saloon-style doors?
After they find the Benjamin Franklin bifocals in a hollowed out brick (a renovation my parents will not allow to my childhood home), Benjamin Franklin Gates' big plan is to split up the Declaration and the bifocals so that the goons looking for them can't get both of the items... but they literally could have waited for a big group of German tourists and gone out with them unnoticed.
Fun fact: Trinity Church is under 'maintenance' that shuts down entrance into the building. Probably because Ben Gates lit everything he could reach on fire.
Abigail notices scrolls from the Library of Alexandria and Ben Gates immediately lights things on fire... you know even though the Library of Alexandria was destroyed... in a fire.
In the end, Ben Gates and co. get away with their records clean while our villains all go to jail. I guess it was a 'prison' after all.
In conclusion, what was with the lemons? And why is Ben Gates' only instinct to light things on fire?
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