National Treasure: Edge of History premiered on Disney+ this week with two episode and is surely a National Treasure universe program, but is missing something…Nicholas Cage.
As most of you know, we are big National Treasure fans and had been excited for the release of this new streaming series. Following the first two episodes, we were not disappointed but noticed a gaping whole the show does not seem to find a way to fill. Cage was the big reason the original two films worked in our opinion. He added the fun and charisma to the movies that the younger characters failed to show in the debut.
Acting by Edge of History star Lisette Oliviera is a shining point in the series. She adds a drive that seems to be pushing the story forward. The appearances of a few familiar faces, like Harvey Keitel as Peter Sadusky and Armando Riesco as Agent Hendricks, adds to the fact this show takes place years after the first two films and allows us to get sucked into the universe Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Wibberley, Jim Kouf, and Jerry Bruckheimer gave us all those years ago.
When the casting of Catherine Zeta-Jones was announced it seems odd, but a bonus to the new series. She does not live up to expectations. Her villainous character seems too far fetched. The two villains from the original films were more grounded and honestly brought more fear. Her character is more like a cartoon villain in a science fiction animation program on Saturday morning.
With all that said the show has promise. The adventure, mystery and treasure hunting will always pull us in. Plus, we are still waiting for the appearance of Justin Bartha as Riley Poole which should give us the fun we are looking for in the series. We are still wondering what the name Edge of History has to do with the series.
Episode three of National Treasure: Edge of History hits Disney+ on December 21 with the fourth episode coming December 28.