The Da Vinci Code is a supremely entertaining thriller that is easy to binge-read and enjoy. Yet those elements of the book that once helped it reach unfathomable heights—the intrigue of its vague conspiracies and the controversies they caused—now feel embarrassing to look back at as anything that folks could take as seriously as they did. By comparison, those simply silly pleasures of National Treasure feel as joyful as ever. Actually, given National Treasure’s largely negative critical reception at the time, it’s fair to say that many more people seem to unabashedly enjoy the film now than ever before.
National Treasure is a practical summer blockbuster (even if it came out in November) with its “dad movie” veneer being rooted in history. It’s a heist thriller with an incredible original score wrapped around a new IP and filled with veteran character actors (Sean Bean! Harvey Keitel! Pre-insanity Jon Voight!) mingling with up-and-coming stars. You can watch it with pretty much anybody, and it’s the kind of movie you will keep watching if you happen to catch it in the middle of a rerun.
National Treasure is not an undeniable masterpiece or a cinematic game-changer. It is, even by the admission of those who love it, a brainless romp that is often cheesy and relies on a suspension of disbelief that borders on faith. Yet those qualities are what make it endearing. It’s also what people are asking for when they look at modern blockbusters and say, “They don’t make them like they used to.”
Just look at the 2006 Da Vinci Code movie for the clearest contrast between the projects. That film may have debuted at Cannes with Oscar aspirations, but it ultimately delivered an experience as fundamentally ridiculous as National Treasure with less of the intended fun. Even star Tom Hanks suggested that it’s best to look at the movie as “hooey and fun [with] scavenger-hunt-type nonsense.” Yet that movie’s aura of elevated drama perfectly captures how people saw The Da Vinci Code at that time, even as it exposed how shallow that story was.
Yes, it’s easy to turn against something popular simply to be contrarian. The Da Vinci Code is one of the most successful books ever written, which makes it all the more tempting to take it down several pegs. At the same time, National Treasure’s coronation isn’t entirely based on that equally powerful desire to root for the underdog. As easily as some have disposed of their copies of The Da Vinci Code, they have returned to the seemingly disposable National Treasure because it still offers something of value: an uncomplicated good time that is somehow always exactly what you want, and slightly better than you remember.
The Da Va Vinci Code and National Treasure both deal with the value of examining objects millions have seen thousands of times from different perspectives that will reveal a hidden truth within. It’s telling, then, that the many rewatches of National Treasure that have occurred in the last 20 years have only endeared it in the hearts of those millions. Conversely, so many reappraisals of The Da Vinci Code are based on the desire to look upon this 2000s era artifact and try to see it as those from another time and place once did.
