National Treasure: Edge of History review: It’s Disney Channel Prestige TV

Let’s get this out of the way: Disney Plus’ new series National Treasure: Edge of HistoryIt is not the successor National TreasureAnyone could have hoped for. It’s not even really stepping to Book of Secrets: National Treasure, the sequel that Doesn’t involve stealing historical documents (but doesSome light kidnappings of the president may be possible.

Instead, Edge of History resets as a “requel,” picking up with new character Jess (Lisette Alexis) as she struggles to unravel the treasure hunting legacy her father (also a new character) left behind. Hot on her heels is Billie Pearce (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a more nefarious treasure seeker who’s eager to find the Aztec relic and more than willing to use underhanded techniques to beat Jess there. Unfortunately for her, Jess is an expert puzzle-solver and a history buff, something we get to know about her character very early on, when she’s confidently breaking down Freemason history to her boss, or else solving either the most simple or elaborate escape room of all time.

Marianne Wibberley, creators of the National Treasure franchise make obvious moves here to keep it updated in real time. Jess was a Dreamer and more specifically rooted the national treasure within the Indigenous history America. The relic she’s seeking is just one of three, a product of the Aztec, Inca, and Mayan network that worked together to hide Montezuma’s gold. It’s also almost the most difficult part to swallow.

No one is here to knock the history chops of National Treasure; this is a film series that delivers strictly on the basis of Nicolas Cage’s cool and confident line reading of “I’m going to steal the Declaration of Independence.” The original movie was a certified goofy gem that had a few historical funny bones in Its body and that was it.

Photo: Brian Roedel/Disney

Edge of HistoryThis one deserves a little more attention. It updates the trope of treasure hunters to be more progressive and paints with wide strokes, whitewashing Indigenous communities that are ostensibly the core story. It’s Disney Channel Prestige, taking its fluffy source material seriously while accidentally homogenizing Latin American Indigenous cultures at the same time. Sure, it’s You can try, but in execution, it’s a glancing cultural erasure that capitalizes on the moment. It might be a bit easier to take if the rest of the show wasn’t existing in the uncanny valley between irony and sincerity, but this is a franchise built on small graces being granted. The simple thrill of a treasure map on the back of one of the nation’s founding documents now feels like a higher-stakes swing, and thus, a slightly bigger miss.

We can therefore assume that National Treasure does not want to worry about the past of the National Treasure. Instead, it focuses on the important parts: the escape rooms and the puzzles.

Edge of HistoryThis is part of an entertainment trend that has made escape rooms seem like some of the most difficult and impossible puzzles in history. The Escape Room movies and other TV shows are just a few examples of the unique television plots that this series has. Brooklyn Nine-NineEscape rooms shown on television tend to have a lot more outside knowledge than real escape rooms. don’t.

Jess is locked up with her friends in two prison cells. The pilot episode features fake uniforms as well. The room they’re in has never been beaten, making Jess’ MacGyver-like ingenuity the key to their escape. To be precise, this involves hiding a screwdriver in a pipe, and then tying together the sheets to form a rope. Once they have pulled a lever, the screws will swing so that they can get out. Amazing design. It could be a case of a lawsuit in the making depending on how it goes. There will be a lot of Yelp complaints when the solution is revealed.

Photo: Brian Roedel/Disney

It’s remarkably elaborate, and, of course, almost exclusively there to demonstrate Jess’ abilities and set the stage for her solving several-hundred-year-old Freemasons puzzles with ease. It’s the truth. National Treasure: Edge of History occupies most frequently: a puzzle-lover’s dream of rigging up the perfect way to slice through dovetailing mysteries that beguile everyone around you. Add in the swashbuckling exploits of a Disney treasure hunt and it’s pretty easy to see the appeal. Edge of History’s problem is that these puzzles often seem built exclusively for Jess, and her knowledge base is almost reverse engineered for this perfect adventure, making it less of a mystery you’re engaging with and more of a tow rope of a narrative.

Edge of History If it felt more like an escape-room, bizarrely byzantine or knowingly absurd, the audience would have something to enjoy and some material to engage with. The show often roots itself against itself, trying to make the world more progressive while not actually acknowledging the meaning of the words in the story and the wider world. That’s a tough line to walk in the world of National Treasure, with all its hidden spring-loaded drawers, encoded messages, and, yes, “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence” declarations. These are not real escape rooms.probablyThis is a story invention that must be leapfrogged to the next enigma.

It’s possible as Edge of HistoryIt manages to find a new narrative, which is more up-to-date but still retains the timeless charm of the treasure hunt story. But in its early episodes, that is one puzzle the Disney Plus requel can’t solve.

National Treasure: Edge of History’s first two episodes are now streaming on Disney Plus. Every Wednesday new episodes will air.