National Treasure (dvd)

Watch it or I'll hit you with my poster tube

Oh dear. If you're a fan of (or just simply enjoyed) The Da Vinci Code then you may feel this is a cheap rip off with none of the twists, turns, drama and character of the Dan Brown novel. You'd be right: this is The Da Vinci Code for the American patriot, taking the genre to the lowest Hollywood denominator.

The fact this is a Bruckheimer doesn't help: the story simply doesn't fit the style. Just hearing the Bruckheimer music sends me into fits of laughter these days thanks to Team America: World Police which parodied his films brilliantly.

Another problem is Nicolas Cage can't seem to work out who is character actually is. Sometimes he's a bumbling history buff, occasionally a swashbuckling Indiana Jones, other times a gawping 'well, darn', err, Nicolas Cage. Unfortunately his range extends to only one of those three; guess which?

Da Vinci fans feel the rollercoaster being pulled to the top of the hill as they read the book because of the prize, the treasure being sought, is so exciting and epoch-shattering. Here the treasure is just treasure and we don't really care a less if they manage to find it. There's no heart, urgency or intrigue: just a join-the-dots of clues and the occasional sticky situation.

If you must see a treasure hunt movie and have OD'd on the Indiana Jones trilogy I give you two recommendations over this steaming pile of Bruckheimer: either wait for The Da Vinci Code next year with Tom Hanks and the enchanting Audrey Tatou or I hear The Goonies has just been re-released on DVD.