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I'll reserve judgement until I've actually seen it - 14/5/2009 7:00:33 PM

mattdavies86

Posts: 113
Joined: 30/4/2006
From: Bath

I didn't see The Da Vinci Code until a couple of months after just about every critic slated it, and when I did eventually see it I thought it was relatively enjoyable - nowhere near as bad as Empire made out. I watched it again on Channel 5 on Sunday, and felt it improved on second viewing and with a better grasp of the plot. Yes, it had its problems in terms of expositionary dialogue, although I seem to recall tons of that in Indy IV (a film which Empire awarded 4 stars).

If Angel & Demons has cut down on the exposition and upped the action then thats an improvement. Kim Newman can slate the plot as "tosh" all he likes, but isn't that what all of the Indiana Jones were (unbelievable plots). Can he not just suspend disbelief for a couple of hours and try to enjoy what he's watching? He seems more than capable of that with all the trashy horror films he watches!

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Post #: 31

- 14/5/2009 7:04:53 PM

Canarius

Posts: 2
Joined: 14/5/2009

Awful. Simply awful.

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Post #: 32

Slightly better than the last one - 14/5/2009 8:11:53 PM

sjmlondon

Posts: 46
Joined: 19/9/2006

Entertaining enough despite the fact that 80's of the movie involved lot of driving around Rome looking for Angels pointing the direction to the next clue/ church. The twist at the end lifts it somewhat though and certainly a step up from the last one.

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Post #: 33

- 14/5/2009 9:13:41 PM

mab

Posts: 8
Joined: 16/1/2008

Translates to film better than the Da Vinci Code, but prepare to be disappointed if your a hardcore fan of the book, its not as faithful as it should be and this limits its plot and suspense. (By the way reviwer the camerlengo was the Pope's son by I.V.F, not a clone)

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Post #: 34

RE: - 14/5/2009 11:19:10 PM

DJ Rob C: Mark II!

Posts: 34808
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Christmas town

I really enjoyed this, both Hanks and McGregor were excellent and it moved along swiftly and interestingly

****

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Post #: 35

Better than expected - 15/5/2009 1:36:43 AM

doc

Posts: 5
Joined: 17/10/2005

As befits the fact that the book was far superior to DVC, this is a much better film, but still suffers from being overly wordy and a good 20 minutes too long. MacGregor's accent grates after a while as well.

Better than Wolverine, but a long way behind Star Trek in the battle for summer supremacy.

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Post #: 36

- 15/5/2009 10:31:45 AM

moneymouth77

Posts: 98
Joined: 3/4/2009

<a href="http://movies.sky.com/review/angels-demons">Angels and Demons</a> is abysmal, absolutely abysmal. As a science geek I found the 'anti-matter' thing bad enough, but the plot was just bad. And the camera jerked around like a dying fish. No, don't bother.

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Post #: 37

RE: Angels & Demons - 15/5/2009 12:02:29 PM

Zaphod121

Posts: 9954
Joined: 20/1/2006
From: Not sure yet.

Moves along swifly??? This was an utter bore, the fact tha Tom Hanks was in it made it slightly more watchable. The plot is complete and utter nonsense and the fact that seem to be walking around in CGI buildings makes it all the more laughable. The film plodded along while having Tom Hanks and whatsherface explain everything to you so much that you really didn't understand what the hell they were on about. And the chopper scene? utterly hilarious, and the score was so bloody over the top it was annoying, and failed to ever create any real tension, BLAH, BLAH and BLAHER. - 3/10

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Post #: 38

- 15/5/2009 1:27:50 PM

Moody

Posts: 21
Joined: 14/10/2005
From: East Sussex

Preferred DVC. This wasn't bad but Ewan McGregor was VERY annoying (looked good in the priest outfit though!...is that wrong?). Has he always been this wooden an actor? Didn't think I had anything against him - I can't say I remember his performance in anything other than Trainspotting - very dodgy accent!!

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Post #: 39

RE: - 15/5/2009 5:21:51 PM

Goodfella

Posts: 15080
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: North Devon

Christ, am I the only one who thoroughly enjoyed this!? I've never read the book, only 'The Da Vinci Code' which I really couldn't get into, so I don't know how much of a fair adaptation it is but outside of that I found it gripping, entertaining and rather chilling at points. Had no issues with the acting although Tom Hanks was slightly cheesy at points, but Robert Langdon came off on me like that in the first novel. Nice, little twist at the end which I had my suspicions about when it first started but seemed to hold off until it caught me right at the end. I don't have any particurlar beliefs in science or God but this was mystifying nonetheless and all rather disturbing. It's becoming apparent I'm one of a few who left feeling like this though. 4/5

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Post #: 40

- 15/5/2009 6:43:02 PM

hockphonic

Posts: 1
Joined: 25/12/2005

Spoiler alert!

Having read the book I was looking forward to watching the film. Unfortunately the book is wordy and it will always be difficult to translate that into a screenplay that will entertain audiences.

My first concerns for the film came about once I'd seen the 12a certificate - the book leans towards an 18 based on the nature of the deaths and potential rape scene.

I was very surprised how much the film deviated from the book (Vittoria's science partner is her dad in the book giving her much more of a personal interest in finding the killer). The boss of CERN is an integral character in the book yet fails to even feature in the film. Shame that the film is too concerned with a neat wrap up (the fourth priest dies in the book, the assassin is killed by the two protagonists.

Hanks is good as usual although not really stretched. I think Ewan is superb normally but his accent did seem to wander at times during this.

Overall: unsurprisingly disappointing - go read the book instead

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Post #: 41

Satisfied! - 15/5/2009 7:00:47 PM

Balian of Ibelin

Posts: 25
Joined: 9/1/2006

The film is a bit slow in places but the cinematography is just fantastic. Rome looks fantastic. The ending is a little too farfetched but not moreso than the ending of the book. Ewan McGregor's camerlengo is brilliant and at times really disturbing. Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks but the best actor was the top cardinal. Not sure what his name is but he blew me away with his performance. Whilst watching the film, I wanted it to go faster but afterwards felt very satisfied with the ending.

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Post #: 42

Satisfied! - 15/5/2009 7:00:48 PM

Balian of Ibelin

Posts: 25
Joined: 9/1/2006

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Post #: 43

RE: Angels And Demons - 15/5/2009 10:21:10 PM

joemanji

Posts: 282
Joined: 26/1/2006
From: Scunthorpe

Tosh from start to finish, but not a complete write off. The locations were pretty. And, um ...

2/5

SPOILERS

It was just so ... lazy. No effort whatsover to be coherent or even interesting. Characters weren't even thinly sketched. Lucky Ewan McGregor was a trained pilot eh? They slipped that one it subtly.

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Post #: 44

Old Tom's OK - 15/5/2009 10:36:43 PM

HERMES_67

Posts: 91
Joined: 1/10/2005

Clearly a case, yet again, of some idiot at Empire being let loose from the office to pour his personal scorn over a very good film.

Its a film, meant to be fictional. If you want an enjoyable couple of hours you could do far worse than this.. Enjoy!!!!

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Post #: 45

Old Tom's OK - 15/5/2009 10:36:44 PM

HERMES_67

Posts: 91
Joined: 1/10/2005

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Post #: 46

What a wasted of time - 16/5/2009 9:49:10 AM

bennyblanco

Posts: 13
Joined: 27/6/2007

Never read the book as was put off by The Da Vinci Code (a book I found boring and never finished ), and glad I never did. I think this is a marmite movie. Personally, I hated it. The plot is weak, and scared to really go for its subject matter. The film itself is slow and lazy from start to finish, Hanks is on auto pilot, McGregor is terrible, and the rest of the cast are just rubbish plot fodder to keep the film ticking along. By the end, I thought I was watching a Vatican Tourism video, with a few alternate scenes. I read in Empires latest issue that Brown has written a 3rd Langdon story, I hope it's a short one about his death.

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Post #: 47

People need to lighten up! - 16/5/2009 2:16:17 PM 1 votes

ilovewatchingfilms10

Posts: 1
Joined: 16/5/2009

Essentially it comes down to this:
If you are a geek, you probably wont like this film, i.e. comments such as "Characters weren't even thinly sketched."
If you are a normal, sociable member of society, going to the cinema to watch a good film, not analyse every specific element scene by scene, and arent particularly bothered how deepy your characters are "sketched", then you will most likely enjoy it!
In relation to the Empire review comment: "The DaVinci Code is one of the most profitable films of the decade.....yet you'll be hard put to find ANYONE who likes it" - it basically sum's up their attitude towards this film.
good films make money for a reason. Because they are GOOD FILMS.
Angels & Demons is a good film. Go and see it. You will enjoy it.
Unless, like i said....you are essentially a geek.

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Post #: 48

RE: People need to lighten up! - 17/5/2009 1:50:51 PM

skeletonjack

Posts: 1297
Joined: 30/9/2005

I really liked the book (apart from the awful ending) so was quite glad when the film was announced.
There's a lot of negativitey about this out there and I can't really see why. Yeah its perhaps a bit too long and yeah the ending is still pretty ludicrous, but its fairly entertaining throughout and a perfectly acceptable way to spend a few hours.
3 stars

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Post #: 49

RE: People need to lighten up! - 17/5/2009 2:25:03 PM

Lazy wolf eyes

Posts: 4086
Joined: 9/9/2006
From: Royston Vasey

quote:

ORIGINAL: ilovewatchingfilms10

Essentially it comes down to this:
If you are a geek, you probably wont like this film, i.e. comments such as "Characters weren't even thinly sketched."
If you are a normal, sociable member of society, going to the cinema to watch a good film, not analyse every specific element scene by scene, and arent particularly bothered how deepy your characters are "sketched", then you will most likely enjoy it!
In relation to the Empire review comment: "The DaVinci Code is one of the most profitable films of the decade.....yet you'll be hard put to find ANYONE who likes it" - it basically sum's up their attitude towards this film.
good films make money for a reason. Because they are GOOD FILMS.
Angels & Demons is a good film. Go and see it. You will enjoy it.
Unless, like i said....you are essentially a geek.

That's an extremely obtuse (not to mention wrong) observation. In fact, your whole post just makes you look pretty snobby.

If knowing the difference between bloated bollocks and a decent film makes me a geek, then geek me up baby.

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Post #: 50

RE: People need to lighten up! - 18/5/2009 10:22:29 AM

mattdavies86

Posts: 113
Joined: 30/4/2006
From: Bath

quote:

ORIGINAL: ilovewatchingfilms10

Essentially it comes down to this:
If you are a geek, you probably wont like this film, i.e. comments such as "Characters weren't even thinly sketched."
If you are a normal, sociable member of society, going to the cinema to watch a good film, not analyse every specific element scene by scene, and arent particularly bothered how deepy your characters are "sketched", then you will most likely enjoy it!
In relation to the Empire review comment: "The DaVinci Code is one of the most profitable films of the decade.....yet you'll be hard put to find ANYONE who likes it" - it basically sum's up their attitude towards this film.
good films make money for a reason. Because they are GOOD FILMS.
Angels & Demons is a good film. Go and see it. You will enjoy it.
Unless, like i said....you are essentially a geek.

Correct me if I'm wrong or if you feel I haven't interpreted your comment correctly but that's a rather silly, sweeping generalisation. I can think of a number of good films that haven't made money. Although, bad films that have made money more prominently come to mind - Spidey 3, Pirates 3.

Like 'The Da Vinci Code' I had a number of problems with the film. Yes, they have moved to a more pacey approach of telling the story and solving the various clues. However, the dialogue is still too expositionary (David Koepp seems to have been developing this unwanted trait in his scripts since Indy IV), and after a few minutes of incoherent waffle from Langdon at each site, my butt cheeks were getting that all too familiar num feeling. As a result I lost track of how they were getting from one site to another, and frankly, I didn't really care. It was like "this statue has a piece of shit hanging out if it, with a bit of corn in it that points south west, so we must head in that direction". Plotwise I didn't find 'Angels & Demons' particularly riveting - for me the contemporary feel was never going to match the ancient conspiracy for 'The Da Vinci Code'.

In terms of casting I had a number of problems. Ewan McGregor joins that line of Scottish actors who are hired to play an Irish character - his accent is very 'in and out' (Irish when he's talking quietly, Scottish as soon as he raises his voice). His character plot twist just didn't convince me. 'Angels & Demons' was also lacking one key element - Ian McKellan. I am aware his character wasn't in the book, but felt that it really needed someone with his enthusiasm just to wake the story up a bit.

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Post #: 51

RE: People need to lighten up! - 18/5/2009 2:47:23 PM

Timon

Posts: 14545
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Bristol

It was ok. Couple of good set pieces (in the archives, shoot out in the 'Fire' church) but apart from that, it wasn't that gripping. Everyone did a decent enough job with what they had (though the female scientist had bugger all to do).

Its main problem though is that it's based on a book by Dan Brown, therefore it's badly written and follows a similiar structure (with surprise villainous twist!) as his other books.

Very pretty to look at, decent score by Hans Zimmer but there were several shots that you could tell were 'greenscreened' as they were prevented from filming at the real locations in Rome - the Basicilica scene for one.

It was ok, but I can't say more than that.

2/5

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Post #: 52

RE: People need to lighten up! - 19/5/2009 8:21:18 AM

Wilbert

Posts: 9511
Joined: 5/10/2005
From: Dublin: Ireland

This was really dull.
2 hours of driving from church to church.

The script goes something like this

LANGDON
The blah-de-blah was built in 1520 so as the blah-de-blah could plot against the blah-de-blah

HOT ITALIAN GIRL
Yes, I know. Bernini's statues are blah-de-blah and they will tell us about blah-de-blah.

LANGDON
Yes, I know.

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Post #: 53

RE: People need to lighten up! - 19/5/2009 8:45:23 AM

Hood_Man

Posts: 11281
Joined: 30/9/2005

I thought it was alright. I'd still give it 2 stars but it would be a high 2 stars, if you get me.

SPOILERS

For much of the film I thought to myself that they'd done a really good job at concealing Ewan McGregors true character traits. Then when the big twist occurs I thought, maybe they've overdone it a bit? I mean, it's one thing to try and conceal a twist sure, but to do so to the point where the character does a complete turnaround just comes across as unbelievable. Ewan McGregor was far too nice to do something like that.

A good adaptation is not to simply film the source material frame by frame, page by page, but also to correct any flaws. It's been a while since I read Angels and Demons, but I don't recall it being THAT out of the blue when whathisface becomes the villain.

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Post #: 54

RE: People need to lighten up! - 19/5/2009 11:30:24 AM

Sinatra

Posts: 7497
Joined: 3/10/2005

quote:

Ewan McGregor was far too nice to do something like that.

Agreed, though they did need to change the mad ending from the book.... the assassin was boring and much more interesting in the book. I'd give it a 3 star though, because the certain set-pieces were terrific and the effects/locations were cleverly done....

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Post #: 55

RE: - 19/5/2009 2:55:02 PM

Cruisecontroller

Posts: 4381
Joined: 28/4/2006

SPOILER AHEAD!

quote:

ORIGINAL: mab

Translates to film better than the Da Vinci Code, but prepare to be disappointed if your a hardcore fan of the book, its not as faithful as it should be and this limits its plot and suspense. (By the way reviwer the camerlengo was the Pope's son by I.V.F, not a clone)

I`m going to see this tonight and would have appreciated you had warned us about the spoiler before you wrote it in your review about the camerlengo!

Please think before you type spoilers to warn us beforehand. Thanks.

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Post #: 56

First film I ever walked out of... - 19/5/2009 8:47:38 PM

drewbert_1700

Posts: 5
Joined: 3/3/2008

This film is an insult, frankly.

It cost me fifteen quid, and a night on the sofa cos she wasn't happy that I left for the toilet and didn't return.

However, don't let me stop you; you may enjoy watching someone chasing churches whilst your intelligence is not only insulted but has its pockets picked and then receives a swift kick in the plums.

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Post #: 57

Not the DaVinci Bore!! - 19/5/2009 10:54:24 PM

kittybinks

Posts: 63
Joined: 9/11/2005

I was actually pleasantly surprised. A vastly superior film to the Davinci Code. Still mumbo-jumbo though but entertaining non - the - less.
This film moves at a much faster pace(and it is better for it).
Subtle humour abounds throughout. Characters you actually engage with, even care about.
If like me you are non-plussed about religion you can go with an open mind and enjoy this film for the escapism it actually is.
If you want a religious experience......get thee to a church!

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Post #: 58

Not the DaVinci Bore!! - 19/5/2009 10:57:21 PM

kittybinks

Posts: 63
Joined: 9/11/2005

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Post #: 59

better then expected - 20/5/2009 3:02:10 PM

bretty

Posts: 143
Joined: 6/10/2005

Any film will be better then the badly written tosh that Brown produces. I read A&D years ago and it was so memorable I forgot it almost before I turned over the last page. So the film was a surprise and once you suspend belief it was okay, nothing more then that. But it moves faster then the DeVinci Code and although there are a few "hang on, surely he would have..." moments, this is not that bad a film - like the book, easy to forget but keeps you occupied for a couple of hours..

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Post #: 60