It was quite obvious, after reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, that the plot for a movie version was going to have to be streamlined and altered, especially the portions that strain credibility. Luckily, the script by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman focuses on straightforward action and doesn’t get bogged down in lengthy explanations and back-stories. To be sure there is exposition. After all, we’re in the middle of a mystery and we need some historical perspective. Tom Hanks, who returns as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, is called upon by the Vatican to help in locating the Illuminati, an ancient brotherhood that reportedly is ready to take its revenge on the Catholic Church. Langdon, who has less than 12 hours to solve the mystery behind this attack on the church, is aided by Italian physicist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), the former pope’s chamberlain, the Camerlengo (EwanMcGrefor) and Vatican cop, Inspector Olivetti (Pierfrancesoco Favino). Standing in their way are the chief of Vatican security (Stellan Skarsgard) and the eldest cardinal (Armin Mueller-Stahl), who refuses to interrupt conclave, a meeting of high-ranking cardinals determined to select a new pope.
While Langdon does a miraculous job of picking up the most obscure clues, there are a lot of lucky coincidences and at this point, you’re either going to go with it or not. However, the incredibly high production values will certainly enhance your viewing pleasure, especially the cinematography, which combines stunning scenes of Rome with intriguing sculptures of angels and demons. And director Ron Howard has an effective cast of actors, starting with Tom Hanks, who has so much on-screen charisma that he lends believability to any role he plays. Zurer is a better compliment to Hanks than Audrey Tatou was in “The Da Vinci Code” and Skarsgard is effective as a possible bad guy. The one negative in simplifying the plot means that the philosophical discussion of science vs. religion gets short shrift. But what an author can explore in a book does not always translate into a movie’s visuals. 5/15/09
1 comment:
The Blogger has done a glowing job of analyzing this film and she clearly shows the shortcomings of this "thriller". As the sky explodes from the anti-matter contained in the helicopter over Rome and the "Cameralengo" parachutes to earth the story loses me a little. As always, Ron Howard does a great job of directing this difficult drama and stays fairly true to the book. In some ways the movie is better than the book as it clears up some of the absurdities of the book. Overall the movie is worth seeing and the acting is good. I give it a 3 1/2 bagger out of a possible 5 (popcorn)
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