NATIONAL TREASURE

Yes — and gladly. Nicolas Cage plays a contemporary Indiana Jones with more heart and less swagger, chasing a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers through a mystery that's genuinely clever, funny, and suspenseful. The movie loves American history the way a great teacher does: it wants you to love it too, and it mostly earns that love honestly.

The one thing to know going in: the plot uses real Masonic symbols to locate the treasure. The film doesn't endorse Masonic belief or ritual — it treats the symbols as historical curiosities, not spiritual truth — but discerning families should still talk with older kids about why Christians keep their distance from secret societies, even friendly-looking ones in movies.

Beyond that, this is about as clean as a modern action movie gets: light profanity, light violence, no sex or nudity, and a story that rebukes greed and celebrates family loyalty and liberty. Take the family. This is the one non-animated adventure this season you won't be embarrassed to bring your kids to.

As a boy, Benjamin Franklin Gates learns his family's legend: a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers, guarded by clues passed down since the Declaration of Independence was signed. His father gave up chasing it years ago, convinced it's a fool's errand.

Thirty years later, Ben is still chasing it — and a clue found on an Arctic expedition points him toward an impossible conclusion: the map to the treasure may be hidden on the back of the actual Declaration of Independence. When his own financial backer turns on him and threatens to steal the document for himself, Ben has to decide how far he'll go to protect a piece of American history — and find out if the legend is even true.

Four stars means this is top-shelf popcorn filmmaking, and it earns every one of them. Director Jon Turteltaub keeps the story moving briskly through history, humor, and set piece after set piece, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer — often unfairly tagged as a purveyor of noise — lets character and wit drive the action instead of volume.

The cast delivers across the board. Cage plays what may be his most heroic, wholesome role yet, and he's clearly having fun with it. Justin Bartha is a genuine comic find as his sidekick, Diane Kruger is smart and warm as the heroine, Sean Bean makes a charismatic villain, and Jon Voight brings real dignity and warmth to Ben's father. The mystery is intriguing, the suspense taut, and the humor almost entirely clean — a rare, well-earned combination.

This is a movie in love with American ideals, and it wears that love openly. It honors the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the liberty it enshrines, alongside traditional family values, bravery, honor, patriotism, loyalty, and justice. It includes positive references to a historic Christian church in New York City and to the Temple Solomon built for Israel — small but genuine nods toward a biblical heritage most treasure-hunt movies wouldn't bother with.

The one caution: the plot leans on real Masonic symbols to locate the treasure. The film doesn't promote Masonic ritual or belief, and it stays free of syncretistic or occult ideology — but families should know the Masonic Lodge itself is a secretive brotherhood that, at higher levels, has entangled itself with ideas that blur or contradict the gospel. A movie can use Masonic imagery as a clever puzzle without endorsing the society behind it, and this one does — but a good conversation with older kids about that distinction is worth having. There's also one mildly multicultural aside near the end, suggesting ancient treasures "belong to the whole world" — slightly off-key, but more annoying than harmful — and a touch of moral relativism in Ben's decision to steal the Declaration in order to protect it. The film resolves that tension honestly: greed is rebuked, and a greater good is genuinely served.

At its core, this is a story about a son trying to redeem his family's name and reclaim what was thought lost. Scripture knows that longing well: "he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:32).

This is patriotic, clean, clever family entertainment — the rare holiday action movie you won't need to apologize for. Great cast, sharp pacing, and a genuine love for American history and family loyalty carry it from start to finish. Our answer: worth the trip.