Angels and Demons
June 25th 2009 11:28
Dir. Ron Howard
Genre Drama, Thriller
Running Time: 138 minutes
I hadn’t read the book before I saw this film, but I had heard so many people say how much better than the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons was. In print this may be so, but on the screen, I have to disagree. In reprising the character of Robert Langdon, Tom Hanks appears to have assumed that we know everything there is to know about this character. Consequently, he gives us no new insights into how his mind works, which made this ‘whodunit’ ultimately pretty ordinary. This was quite a disappointment for a Ron Howard film, and equally unexpected.
The story centres around the death of the Pope, the selection of his successor and the shenanigans and politics within the College of Cardinals as they meet to elect the next Pontiff. In short order, the game’s afoot with bizarre goings on, kidnapped Cardinals, and red herrings aplenty to mislead and misdirect the audience. Robert Langdon is working on our behalf though, and if only he would work up some energy, I might have thought the puzzle ultimately worth solving.
The sets are sumptuous and beautiful to look at, the characters though are all somewhat familiar and uninspired, but very well dressed. The film does have its moments though, with occasional but rare spine tingling excitement. In the end, its all a bit of camp old nonsense. A mystery hardly worth Tom Hanks time to dress up for and solve it seems. I suspect there may be bigger mysteries worth solving – like the ancient symbology relating to the end of the world on 21/12/2012? Now that’s a film I’m looking forward to seeing!
Rating: 3/5
Genre Drama, Thriller
Running Time: 138 minutes
Tom Hanks
I hadn’t read the book before I saw this film, but I had heard so many people say how much better than the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons was. In print this may be so, but on the screen, I have to disagree. In reprising the character of Robert Langdon, Tom Hanks appears to have assumed that we know everything there is to know about this character. Consequently, he gives us no new insights into how his mind works, which made this ‘whodunit’ ultimately pretty ordinary. This was quite a disappointment for a Ron Howard film, and equally unexpected.
The story centres around the death of the Pope, the selection of his successor and the shenanigans and politics within the College of Cardinals as they meet to elect the next Pontiff. In short order, the game’s afoot with bizarre goings on, kidnapped Cardinals, and red herrings aplenty to mislead and misdirect the audience. Robert Langdon is working on our behalf though, and if only he would work up some energy, I might have thought the puzzle ultimately worth solving.
The sets are sumptuous and beautiful to look at, the characters though are all somewhat familiar and uninspired, but very well dressed. The film does have its moments though, with occasional but rare spine tingling excitement. In the end, its all a bit of camp old nonsense. A mystery hardly worth Tom Hanks time to dress up for and solve it seems. I suspect there may be bigger mysteries worth solving – like the ancient symbology relating to the end of the world on 21/12/2012? Now that’s a film I’m looking forward to seeing!
Rating: 3/5
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