Sony Pictures takes Dan Brown’s prequel to the controversial bestseller, The Da Vinci Code and turns it into a sequel to the film adaptation. Angels & Demons finds Tom Hanks’ Professor Robert Langdon on the side of the Catholic Church he crossed swords with in the previous film. He also has a more sensible hairstyle than the modified mullet he once sported.
The Pope has passed away and as the Catholic Church prepares to elect a new leader, four of the leading candidates have been abducted. Meanwhile, an experiment with a massive Hadron Collider has yielded trace amounts of anti-matter, a canister of which is stolen. Both crimes have been committed by the Illuminati, a secret society long thought extinct. The Illuminati plan to murder each the candidates as they lead up to destroying all of Vatican City with an anti-matter bomb. Once their number included great minds like Galileo and Bernini until the Church persecuted the group for teaching ideals countermanding their religious doctrine. Their goal now is to strike back in the ultimate battle of science versus religion.
Langdon is called to the Vatican and must decipher an assortment of clues and mysterious symbols to track down the Illuminati’s secret hiding place and save thousands of lives. Langdon finds assistance from Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), the Italian scientist in charge of the experiment and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor), the Pope’s right-hand man and adopted son.
Many felt The Da Vinci Code lacked visual style and forward momentum with much of the film devoted to lengthy exposition. Director Ron Howard took that criticism to heart utilizing more flashy shots compositions and camera movement instead of the static, plain style of the original. He’s also picked up the speed considerably. The sequel is also more violent than its predecessor featuring scenes that include a man’s face being eaten by rats and at least two men set a fiery blaze. On the positive side, it has made Angels & Demons a quicker paced thriller. On the negative side, it just means those lengthy exposition scenes come faster and more frequently.
The Pope has passed away and as the Catholic Church prepares to elect a new leader, four of the leading candidates have been abducted. Meanwhile, an experiment with a massive Hadron Collider has yielded trace amounts of anti-matter, a canister of which is stolen. Both crimes have been committed by the Illuminati, a secret society long thought extinct. The Illuminati plan to murder each the candidates as they lead up to destroying all of Vatican City with an anti-matter bomb. Once their number included great minds like Galileo and Bernini until the Church persecuted the group for teaching ideals countermanding their religious doctrine. Their goal now is to strike back in the ultimate battle of science versus religion.
Langdon is called to the Vatican and must decipher an assortment of clues and mysterious symbols to track down the Illuminati’s secret hiding place and save thousands of lives. Langdon finds assistance from Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), the Italian scientist in charge of the experiment and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor), the Pope’s right-hand man and adopted son.
Many felt The Da Vinci Code lacked visual style and forward momentum with much of the film devoted to lengthy exposition. Director Ron Howard took that criticism to heart utilizing more flashy shots compositions and camera movement instead of the static, plain style of the original. He’s also picked up the speed considerably. The sequel is also more violent than its predecessor featuring scenes that include a man’s face being eaten by rats and at least two men set a fiery blaze. On the positive side, it has made Angels & Demons a quicker paced thriller. On the negative side, it just means those lengthy exposition scenes come faster and more frequently.
Ayelet Zurer inherits Audrey Toutou’s role as the sole female in the cast, but really adds nothing. She’s only there to explain things to the other characters (and the audience) when it comes to scientific and even medical elements. Despite the attempts to ground the story in reality, the plot still remains ludicrously absurd (or absurdly ludicrous, if you will). The villain, of course, has to come up with the most overly-Machiavellian plan possible when a simple ‘shoot the hero in the head’ would have sufficed. If only Howard could have found a way to film The Da Vinci Code with the pace and direction for the sequel. We might have had a halfway decent film.
At least, Code had Ian McKellan to add his presence and grativas to the ridiculousness around him. Here, Howard has to cast Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl and a genial Ewan McGregor to try and balance things out. Hanks performs well as an intellectual Indiana Jones, but gets no opportunities to display the trademark charm he has in the past. Angels & Demons is essentially your typical summer blockbuster masquerading as highbrow entertainment. It's a passable popcorn film that might be worth a rent on the weekends.
At least, Code had Ian McKellan to add his presence and grativas to the ridiculousness around him. Here, Howard has to cast Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl and a genial Ewan McGregor to try and balance things out. Hanks performs well as an intellectual Indiana Jones, but gets no opportunities to display the trademark charm he has in the past. Angels & Demons is essentially your typical summer blockbuster masquerading as highbrow entertainment. It's a passable popcorn film that might be worth a rent on the weekends.
Rating: **
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