Angels & Demons
posted May 14, 2009 6:06 PM
Genuflect, genuflect, genuflect
Director Ron Howard does a mea culpa for the turgid Da Vinci Code with this fast-paced piece of high gloss hokum. By any definition, the Dan Brown novels that brought us Angels & Demons and Da Vinci Code are poorly written excuses to hook faith-based audiences with dire religious pomposity and everyone else with standard airport bookstore tropes. At least in Angels & Demons the action moves at such a finely-tuned roar that religious groups inclined to complain will realize the movie is harmless studio product that features religion but, let’s face it, isn’t really about religion. With its frenzied tone and Tom Hanks looking very comfortable in his role as symbologist Robert Langdon box office receipts should be heavenly, though not quite at Da Vinci Code levels.
If there’s anything positive to be said about the original novels it’s that Dan Brown did his homework. Angels & Demons takes place at the Vatican and book-adapters extraordinaire David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman keep the goings-on nicely streamlined. Stripping the nonsense from their fact-infused script should count as Roman history course credit at many community colleges—and most of the instruction falls from the mouth of Langdon. First seen taking a morning swim at the Harvard University swimming pool, Langdon is whisked to Rome after someone kidnaps the four Cardinals next in line to succeed the pope after his death. This is one of those films where everybody knows everything at the exact moment they’re required to know it, which would be less believable in a movie that wanted us to pay more attention. Here, Langdon identifies the group responsible as the Illuminati, the kind of shadowy, everywhere-yet-nowhere organization that can fulfill all narrative requirements. Depending on whom one believes (Dan Brown being low on the list), although the existence of the Illuminati is a historical fact that dates back centuries, the extent of its modern day incursion into the high seats of government and religious power is up for discussion. Nevertheless, in one very long night that would impress 24’s Jack Bauer, Langdon must help the Swiss Guard (protectors of the pope since the 16th century) and local police find the four cardinals before one is murdered each hour, climaxing in the destruction of the Vatican at midnight.
It’s your basic ticking time bomb scenario (stopping just short of a red wire/blue wire climax) and Howard jumps in with nimbleness. The Langdon films still lack the corny fun of the National Treasure series: the thumb of history and Howard’s curious respect for the source material still presses down on the film, with its bombastic music, baroque sets and fetishistic love of red cardinal robes. Otherwise, this is extremely well-mounted, runaway train filmmaking, which is to say it’s fast, expensive and a bit out of control. Finding the four cardinals and uncovering the plot against the papacy depends on Langdon locating four churches scattered across Rome. How he does this while thousands mob St. Peter’s Square waiting for the new pope to be elected is hard to believe and harder to remember, although Hanks effortlessly walks, runs, jumps and drives around the Vatican vomiting scads of papal arcana. And it would be unfair to say none of this information is interesting. But the film (and the series) would benefit if Langdon were more than just an encyclopedic spouter of ancient trivia.
What’s less interesting is how the Illuminati plan to blow up the Vatican. Someone has stolen a container of anti-matter from the CERN particle physics lab and only beautiful brunette scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) can dismantle it before it explodes at midnight. Introducing anti-matter into a movie about ancient religion never stops feeling ridiculous, but the fascinating conflict between faith and science is one area that even the movie’s pseudo-interest in weighty controversies can’t diminish. What drove the Illuminati underground was the Church’s disdain for scientific truth, leading the Vatican to denounce the group’s fealty to their “new God, science.” Later, there’s a nice moment when Langdon (ever the agnostic) is asked by the Camerlengo, head of the Vatican between the death of one pope and the election of the next pope, whether he believes in God. His answer is truthful yet respectful, and it allows him entrance to the sacred Vatican library for some investigating. The Camerlengo is played by Ewan McGregor and it’s an awkward fit. He’s not too young, but he’s not an old enough soul. Better is the never-bad Stellan Skarsgård as the ornery Swiss Guard commander who needs Langdon to save Christianity, even though he nearly destroyed it by revealing Jesus’s modern bloodline in the first film.
Both Da Vinci Code and its sequel are talky affairs, but Angels & Demons talks and runs simultaneously, making it the better match of material and intended audience. It’s still heavy machinery requiring lots of horsepower to drive it, but it definitely goes. And any film in which the main character reminds us that Galileo was condemned and placed under lifelong house arrest by the Church for claiming the Earth was not the center of the universe is worth a ticket. One hopes that, next time, Langdon tackles the Inquisition.
Distributor: Sony
Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård and Armin Mueller-Stahl
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriters: David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and John Calley
Genre: Action
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence, disturbing images and thematic material.
Running time: 138 min
Release date: May 15, 2009
16 Comments
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Mitchell Vasallo said:
I just watched the premier of "Angels and Demons." starring Tom Hanks. Even though it wasn't as good as his first film. I have to be impressed that he stayed physically in shape for this film. Not just because the film but he's not getting any younger so it's fitting that for this movie he still looks like the Tom Hanks of old but a little wiser. Anyways the faults of this movie were Langdon was recruited to solve another case but is slowly progressing to figure out who is behind it. People get killed so many times that Tom Hank's character saves one life in the movie. Everyone falls a victim to the church's supposed close mindedness to science....police,bishops,innocent people, guilty people. How many people have to die before he solves it is the question. 10, 20, 30 or a million. You just have to see the movie.
May 15, 2009 3:30 AM
Luci Matei said:
The movie is beside 10 minutes at the end nothing that might interest from an action movie. Regarding the facts that this movie brings to the audience, this is incomparable to the DaVinci Code. You can watch it on DVD, but for a cinema view a bit to much asked.
May 15, 2009 5:41 AM
Ramzy ishtawi said:
I've read the book Angels and demonns and i couldnt put it down, so i expect the movie will turn out great like the book and probably have a great success like The Davinci Code.
May 15, 2009 7:24 AM
Anonymous said:
@Ramzy. True story, the book was awesome. I hope Ron decides to do Digital Fortress, although that's not a Robert Langdon book.
May 15, 2009 2:52 PM
Suck My Pretty Toes said:
I've made no secret of the fact that I love Ron Howard and Imagine Films. For me, they never disappoints. Howard's love of film making is so evident in his ability to bring such richness and life to all his movies.
Angels and Demons really sets a fast pace. The things that make up The Da Vinci Code: mystery, conspiracy, mysticism, religion and a grand, intellectual scavenger hunt, are all present in this film as well, however, the main intent is for it to really move and that it does.
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is invited to Vatican City to lend his expertise on The Illuminati. Reminiscent of the Priory of Sion of The Da Vinci Code, the Illuminati are a secret sect of physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher's intent on the advances of science. In the 17th century, the Catholic Church condemns and executes members of this sect in the age old war of religion vs. science.
Legend has it that members of the Illuminati still exist and have been waiting for the right time to seek their revenge. The right time has now presented itself in the fact that the Vatican is voting in a new Pope and a team of scientists, lead by Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) have generated Antimatter, the light and energy of creation.
The clock starts ticking once this highly explosive, almost nuclear, Antimatter is stolen along with 4 of the popular Pope replacements. Sending Langdon and Vetra on a chase to figure out the symbolic path of the Illuminati and save Vatican City.
Although Dan Brown's novels (I still want to read Angels & Demons, been sitting on my shelf for two years) are dense with history, art, mysticism, ancient text and symbolism, that can make for some unwieldy dialog and exposition; it's OK, because of the nature of the film and because that stuff is so damn interesting. It also doesn't take anything away from the suspense, the moments of gore or most viewers ability to follow the plot, which throws in a real character twist at the end.
Sexy as physicist, Vittoria is, the story doesn't leave room for any romance or even flirtation between she and Langdon. Too bad for Hanks, who had to really hustle and exert himself in this movie. He must have lost at least 15lbs of over-paid, Hollywood A-List bloat, by the end of the shoot.
No mention is made of the whereabouts of the Holy off-spring, Sophie. I suppose that's best since technically, Angels and Demons is before The Da Vinci Code. Although it is established that Langdon is known by the Vatican, because of his last adventure.
Ewan McGregor is very appealing as the "Camerlengo" he saunters through The Vatican in his black priestly robes, like Neo from the Matrix.
The production value of this film is awe inspiring. I've seen interviews with Ron Howard, discussing all the difficulties of shooting in Rome, the access denied to them. That they had to use tourist decoys to film locations with hand held cameras. The resulting re-creation of The Vatican and Vatican City is so believable! It shows true dedication to the craft of everyone involved.
SMPT Rating: My Pretty Big Toe
May 15, 2009 8:37 PM
Aggravated Girl said:
I have read Angels & Demons plenty of times and every time I could not put the book down. It was such a great book and well written if I might say with so many funny parts as well as being action packed. I was expecting the movie to be this amazing film, which to my surprise I was completely wrong.
From the very beginning of the movie nothing was played like in the book. There were maybe 2 or 3 parts of the entire movie that was in the book. I was very disappointed. What made matters worse for those of you who have seen the film and not read the book is that at the end of the film Baggia is not suppose to become Pope. In fact, he dies in the fountain. He does not live. Mortati was suppose to be Pope!!
I think the film would have been excellent if I had not read the book first. Nothing was exactly the same because they killed off Leonardo Vetra and Dr. Kohler of CERN from the book.
But knowing that I read both the book and saw the movie I would say that I liked the book ten times more. There are more twists, and it is much more action packed.
In all I was very disappointed in Ron Howard and this film and I don't plan on purchasing it when it comes out on DVD.
May 16, 2009 5:28 PM
Dissapointed said:
I didn't read the book but couldn't wait for the movie to end....really....it was that bad. It looked great, the acting was top notch but the story left me confused and unmotivated....I didn't care when characters died and couldn't care when they survived. My advice, DVD...
May 17, 2009 12:29 AM
da barber said:
...at least Hank's hair was better in this movie.
May 23, 2009 6:00 PM
Alexandria, vq said:
bad, very bad movie. Acting, directing, script - dreadful. Stupid, pointless, no sense, just terrible. It's fast paced to keep people thinking about the idiotic plot. What a waste of money.
May 25, 2009 10:04 PM
Sean said:
The biggest problem I had with the movie was that it made it seem as though the events of the first film were common knowledge. Wasn't it all a secret? I never had the impression at the end of the DVC that Hanks character was simply going to blab to the world and The Vatican & put Audrey Tautou in danger.
Well, that wasn't my biggest problem with the movie. The biggest problem was it was supposedly an action movie but still played like a tedious lecture. Nice review, covers my feelings on it pretty well.
June 1, 2009 8:31 PM
A FaN said:
the movie fantastic for me,, i loved it and will watch it again
June 13, 2009 2:13 AM
Save Marriage said:
Lovely Movie!! Irrespective of what people say, thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hrs spent in the theater!
November 13, 2009 5:18 AM
Save Marriage said:
Lovely Movie!! Irrespective of what people say, thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hrs spent in the theater!
http://www.marriagemax.com
November 13, 2009 5:19 AM
Watch shows online said:
Nice post
Your review was quite good because even I think in the movie proper ground work was done unlike the novel written by Dan Brown.
November 14, 2009 4:48 AM
Watch shows online said:
Nice post
Your review was quite good because even I think in the movie proper ground work was done unlike the novel written by Dan Brown.
November 14, 2009 4:53 AM
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