![[Think Tank] Benchmark Movies](https://www.overthinkingit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/benchmark-carousel.jpg)
National Treasure – Lee
“National Treasure” is my benchmark movie for the action/adventure genre. It’s got a lot of appealing things about it, and overall is fairly enjoyable, but it’s also riddled with clichés and moments that stretch credulity. Pretty much every component of the movie has a good side and a bad side:
- The heist sequence is well-paced, taut, and thrilling, and yet…they’re stealing the freaking Declaration of Independence. Come on. I know our government is bad at a lot of things, but guarding invaluable national treasures is not one of them.
- Sean Bean. He’s great on-screen, but of course Sean Bean is going to double cross the protagonist! It’s freaking Sean Bean!
- The clue-unlocking game keeps the plot moving and sets up a series of enjoyable trips to iconic American history sites, yet it’s painfully and shamelessly derivative of “The Da Vinci Code.”
- Diane Kruger as Dr. Abigail Chase is quite lovely to look at, yet turns in a rather dull performance opposite…
Nic Cage. Nic Cage is what really makes “National Treasure” the ultimate benchmark movie, as he is a benchmark actor himself. He’s got a “Leaving Las Vegas” for every “Ghost Rider” on his resume. His performances range from emotive and touching to…well, “Ghost Rider.” Likewise, in “National Treasure,” he alternates between quirky-but-lovable cryptologist and utterly-phoning-it-in action hero.
“National Treasure” is the kind of movie you watch, enjoy, then wonder why you did, in spite of the clichés, the ridiculousness, and the Nic Cage.
No time to over-think, except that you call Alan Rickman’s performance in Robin Hood “ham-fisted.” That means a very bungled performance, but you then say it’s very good. Do you mean his hammed-up performance, in which he would be over-acting? Or … something else? /confused
I have a few benchmark movies based on genre. All of them are closer to the bad end of the spectrum as opposed to being dead center but I still enjoy them and use them as a benchmark.
Action: The Scorpion King starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Remember when The Rock actual made acceptable movies? I certainly do. While it does have a pretty cliched plot and some questionable dialogue, the action is well done. It also has Michael Clarke Duncan in the role he was meant to play: large, angry pesudo-antagonist to the hero.
Superhero: Ghost Rider, starring Nicholas Cage. It’s faithful enough to the source material to keep my inner Comic Book Guy in check. Cage’s acting switches between being just a bit over-the-top and being too hammy for it’s own good. Special effects aren’t the greatest in the world but they get the job done. It also has a great driving sequence with Ghost Riders in the Sky.
Thriller: Trauma. The name of the lead escapes me but I’ll admit I picked this film up on a whim. It has a decent mystery with a slow burn. The climax has several unexpected reveals within a few minutes of another. They aren’t ultimately satisfying but they do allow the film to end on a disturbing note. It doesn’t hold up under intense scurtiny but given the limited information the viewer is given, it stands up well on its own.
Hate to nitpick an otherwise enlightening article, but your post-script at the end of page 1 loses a lot of its steam when one recalls that “George H.W.” actually refers to Dubya’s dad — meaning that the 1991 movie really only only (supposedly) predicted the results of the 1992 election. (And accurately, at that.)
Keep up the good work! :)
Good call, Jon. My reading kung fu is weak. With apologies to Film Freak Central…
I dunno… I think ham-fisted but awesome is a great way to describe that performance. Ham-fisted doesn’t really mean bungled, it means something like clumsy, too forceful, bereft of subtlety. Like, Carmina Burana is really, REALLY ham-fisted. That doesn’t mean it’s not also good.
So while a ham-fisted surgeon is always bad, a ham-fisted boxer can sometimes do pretty well, and a ham-fisted performance can be brilliant. My nominations for greatest of all time would be Rickman in Robin Hood, Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, and Joan Crawford in Straight Jacket.
@stokes: And anything by Brian Blessed. If anyone doesn’t know who he is, look him up and be delighted.
The Boondock Saints is my benchmark. The casting was excellent, the production values so-so, the story semi-forgettable, and the action more than satisfying.
To me, it screams benchmark because it was good enough to warrant a sequel, but not popular enough that it is sill considered a cult hit.
Also, anything with Alan Rickman is awesome by default. The rest of the movie may suck, but Snape/Grueber/Marvin is great.
Aaaah, “Robin Hood: Prince of Theives.” Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham is why I say I’ll stab/cut out someone’s eyes with a spoon (jokingly, of course). Best scene evar? “Because it’s dull, you twit, it’ll hurt more.” Over-acted, but so fantastic. And random trivia about the song: Kamen hated it and didn’t want to incorporate it into the score very much because he thought the piano sounded too modern. No problems with the guitar, bass, or drums, though. (Thanks, “Pop Up Video.”)
Greg: I like “Boondock Saints” as an example of that particular action movie, i.e. a gun-fight one. It’s lack of any sort of car chase sequence sets it apart from, say, the third “Die Hard,” a potential benchmark for the genre of action in general.