Entertainment,  Reviews,  TV

Season 1 of ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ Is An Unfortunate Mess

Photo courtesy of Disney Plus.

Season 1 of National Treasure: Edge of History premiered on Disney Plus on December 14, 2022. The season consists of 10 episodes. It follows Jess (Lisette Olivera) as she discovers that she’s a part of a secret network of treasure hunter protectors. Once Jess embarks on a treasure hunt, her life is turned upside down and chaos ensues. Today, I want to tell you my thoughts on the first season. Let’s get into this.

The series breathes new life into the National Treasure film series by modernizing it and allowing women to shine as heroes and villains. The only female character that’s been in the films so far is Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger). Her character is almost solely used a romantic ploy for Ben Franklin-Gates (Nicolas Cage). It was awesome to see women taking control of the narrative for a change.

I watched the films as I started watching season 1 to get familiar with the world and if any original characters showed up. I do feel that you can go without watching the films because you’d still be able to understand what’s going on.

I want to shift over to the cast and the performances they gave. Lisette Olivera gives a captivating performance as Jess Valenzuela. Her charisma and innocence ooze into Jess effortlessly. She was a wonderful choice to bring this role to life. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters in the show.

Zuri Reed brings Tasha to life including her brilliant mind and big heart. Reed exudes an incredible amount of confidence into Tasha. She’s another one of my favorite characters in this show.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is a veteran in this industry. I thought it was ironic how I watched her in Wednesday and saw that she was in this. She’s such an underrated actress. Zeta-Jones has the ability to step into any role, make it her own, and command the screen.

Antonio Cipriano brings all the charm with Oren. I love Oren so much. He’s a great example of the lovable himbo trope. He also goes against the trope in a way because he’s genuinely a smart guy. The scene with him making breakfast and dancing was so good. Cipriano had great comedic timing.

Jake Austin Walker had me swooning as Liam. There were some points with the singing scenes that made me cringe because it wasn’t the time or the place for those scenes. Liam is charismatic and charming which is evident in Walker’s performance.

Jordan Rodrigues tested me quite a bit as Ethan. I’m not going to lie here. Ethan drove me crazy plenty of times. His character does add a nice dynamic to the friend group though.

Lyndon Smith did a great job at portraying FBI agent Hannah Ross considering the material she had to play off of. I wish she had more screentime because agent ross didn’t have much a backstory or personality if i’m being honest. It would’ve been nice if we saw more of how she got into the FBI and her roots.

We do get a little romance to take a break from all the action. It was a nice touch and so were the comedic moments.

As for the storytelling, it was a rollercoaster. It had its ups and downs. The pacing was all over the place. I’m glad that they do the “previously on” before each episode because it’s difficult to remember what happens. I think the season could’ve ended at episode 8. It was draggy and the story didn’t need to be dragged out for 10 episodes.

There are twists and turns that I didn’t expect at all to happen which was nice. The story pretty much wraps up at the end of the season.

The cinematography captures the beauty of every location the series is set in. It captured the action sequences and the facial expressions of the actors in real time.

It’s clear that the production alone was worth millions of dollars because it felt high-quality through and through. The costumes, hair, and makeup brought out individual personalities in each character.

If you feel that this show is up your alley, please feel free to watch it. Let me tell you the acting performances alone may actually be worth your time.

 

 

National Treasure: Edge of History is exclusively streaming on Disney Plus.

Creators: Cormac & Marianne Wibberley

Cast: Lisette Olivera, Zuri Reed, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Anthony Cipriano, Jake Austin Walker

Producers: Jon Turteltaub, Mira Nair, Jerry Bruckheimer

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