Angels & Demons

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Angels & Demons. Directed by Ron Howard. Written by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman.

This is the 2nd film adapted from a Dan Brown novel. As we all know, the DaVinci Code was made 1st. But for those of you who haven't read the books and shame on you if you haven't, The DaVinci Code is actually the sequel to Angels & Demons. Due to the immense popularity of DaVinci, hollywood decided to make it 1st. Big mistake because Angels & Demons was a much better book in my opinion and it gives Robert Langdon's character more weight when he goes to france for DaVinci Code.

Our story here plays as a sequel to the DaVinci Code. Robert Langdon is "on the outs" so to speak with the church after the events in france and after a book he published exposing the truth about Jesus' bloodline. Just like in the book. The pope has died and the cardinals all assemble for conclave to elect a new leader. At the same time a research team test an energy source called anti-matter capable of powering the world but in the wrong hands destroying it as well. A canister of anti-matter is stolen and 4 cardinals are kidnapped and held hostage by a group called the Illuminati. They place the anti-matter somewhere in the vatican set to explode in several hours. The film follows Langdon's quest to find the pattern of the Illuminati while trying to rescue the kidnapped cardinals and diffuse the bomb.

This book was much longer than DaVinci Code so that meant that a lot of stuff had to be taken out for the film adaptation and it shows. This isn't necessarily a bad thing about Angels & Demons. As a fan of the book I just expected to see more of the elements that made it such an entertaining read.

A MAJOR improvement made in this new installment was the Langdon character played by the great Tom Hanks. And before you ask I am not talking about his hair. I am referring to his mind. In DaVinci Code (the film) Langdon seemed more like a guy who found out stuff by accident. There were several times in that movie where he gets angry at himself for messing up a clue and not realizing that he should have known the right answer on the 1st try.

Here, Langdon is much sharper and quick witted. He knows what he's talking about and doesn't preach. That was something I remember fondly from the books. Langdon is a symbols expert and he used his education as a tool masterfully in the books. They tapped into that in Angels & Demons and the end result was a much more believable Robert Langdon. When there was a moment of pause  you just knew that Langdon was going to know the answer without hesitation.

Another improvement was when Langdon school's the swiss guard on catholic history the film doesn't go into a flashback sequence like they did in DaVinci Code. The film allowed Langdon to explain everything in plain english that everyone could follow. Those flashbacks in DaVinci Code were distracting and insulting to the audience. It felt like Ron Howard didn't think that we could figure out what Langdon was telling us so they had to show us. It took away the importance of Langdon's revelations. Here that wasn't the case. What helped that was because unlike DaVinci Code. There was a time frame to beat in Angels & Demons. So in reality there really wasn't any time for long winded speeches and exposition.

Overall, Angels & Demons was a solid film that moves pretty fast despite it's 2 plus hour run time. I felt it was a little too light but that's because I read the book and obviously the book always carried more weight and gusto. On the whole though a MUCH better improvement from DaVinci Code.

On the 5 star scale. Angels & Demons gets 3 stars and a "Go See It" recommendation.

My next review will be Terminator : Salvation. This one worries me. Not just because McG is directing. I question the reason to make another Terminator film in the 1st place. Everything was pretty much said after 1 & 2. The mythology can only go so far before it gets diluted. And that was the case with Terminator 3 and I don't think Christian Bale will be enough to save it.

We'll have to wait and see.

Until Next Episode....I'll Save You A Seat!

"D"