Ripping Yarns

I think I was born in the wrong era.

Yes, I know I’m a bit of a modern-day gadget geek, but I’d give that all up for growing up in the first part of the 20^th Century. I admit, my vision of these days is entirely fictitious, taken from the pages of Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome and Tassie’s very own Nan Chauncy. There was always a mystery to solve, and the freedom to set out on adventure for days at a time with a packed lunch, a pocket knife, and a box of matches to keep you going until you arrived back home for a scrumptious afternoon-tea of jam, cream and scones, and a mug of hot cocoa -- without even a vaguely curious question of “Where have you been, we’ve been worried sick!” To be fair to my parents, I was afforded a great deal of freedom in my youth – so much so that I think that they would be stunned and shocked at some of the things we got up to. Or maybe not.

I fear though that those days are long gone; I can’t even bring myself to consider the idea of my children setting off for adventure, on their own, for even a few hours at a time! They say the world has changed, but maybe we are just wrapping our children up too much in cotton wool, with the mostly imagined fear of what may become of them.

Their adventures now are mostly vicarious; experienced through what they read, and what they watch. And so are mine.

Ever since Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, the genre of the “Ripping Yarn” movie has never been the same. This was “Boy’s Own Adventure” at its best, allowing the viewer (as long as they were wholeheartedly prepared to suspend disbelief) to be swept along to exotic places only ever before seen on a map, to “boo” the villains (always painted in broad strokes), and cheer the hero as he miraculously pulls through, getting the treasure and the girl in the process.

Others have since tried to capitalize on, and contribute to, this genre. You have the Romancing the Stone series, The Mummy series, the made-for-video The Librarian series, and a whole swathe of Bond films, though arguably not all, that have all tried. And of course the rest of the Indiana Jones franchise. Some have totally captured the “Ripping Yarn” mentality; others less so- usually falling into the trap of taking themselves too seriously.

And so when National Treasure came on the scene it certainly piqued my interest, though not enough to see it on the big screen.  I had never been a big fan of Nicolas Cage, which is grossly unfair considering how little of his work I have seen*.  Yes, it appeared on the preview trailers to tick the right boxes “Rousing Adventure Film”-wise, but meh, it’s Nicolas Cage!  (Don’t worry, I feel the same way about Kevin Costner, even though he stars in one of my favourite films!)  So when I finally bought it on DVD, I went into it with, I think, an open mind.

By the end of it, was I satisfied?

Was I ever!

Sure, this film isn’t going to win any awards (OK, it did, if you look at IMDB!) but it so ticked the right boxes for this genre, so long as you watch it with your “Boy’s Own Adventure” head on! Sure, you can drive whole suspicious-looking-utility-vans through the plots in this movie, and gravity and time don’t work like they do in “real life”, but I feel this film doesn’t ask any more of you in the disbelief-suspension department than the best films of this genre.

It is just rollicking good fun! The good guys are likeable; the bad guys, hiss-able. There are tunnels, puzzles, spiderwebs a-plenty, double-crosses, explosions, rickety staircases, and skeletons.  There are ”no way!” moments, there’s the obligatory love interest, there are more tunnels and puzzles, and…

And I love Nic Cage in this movie!  He is sufficiently over-the-top, yet still manages to remain believable (this guy “could” exist), and makes the character of Benjamin Franklin Gates his own.

It certainly left itself open to expanding the franchise, which it did with National Treasure 2.

The first two times I watched the sequel I felt that the second was the weaker film of the two, but recently we watched them both over two consecutive nights and, you know… I think I like them both equally as much now! (More tunnels, the odd flaming torch, skeletons, AND a car chase) and…

And Nicolas Cage just kept getting more likable! Both movies managed to keep a grown boy like myself engrossed and my wife seemed to enjoy them yet again too (thus turning the whole “Boy’s Own” label on its head!) As a bonus we both came to the realization that they were also actually quite “older-child” friendly too. You know what…

I think my two older boys are ready for some Adventure!

*My DVD collection contains way too many over seven hundred movies, of which five (Next, Knowing, The Family Man, National Treasure, and National Treasure 2) feature Nicolas Cage. Of the 60-odd films he has appeared in, I have seen the five mentioned above, plus Gone in Sixty Seconds and Guarding Tess.  Seven out of fifty-nine…  If someone were to ask me to defend my favourite Nic Cage film, that isn’t much to choose from!