Review of Angels And Demons

Angels And Demons (12A)

Plot
As a conclave meets to elect a new Pope, symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to Rome. Kidnapped cardinals are murdered hourly, seemingly by the ancient Illuminati, building up to the detonation of an anti-matter bomb which will destroy Vatican City. Langdon has to follow a secret path through Rome to save the Catholic church.

Review
Ron Howard’s film of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code ranks among the most profitable films of the decade, racking up Harry Potter or Batman-size grosses – yet you’d be hard put to find anyone, including many fans of Dan Brown’s books, who actually liked it. Nevertheless, the numbers make so much sense that this sequel, reuniting Howard with star Tom Hanks (but not, sadly, Audrey Tautou), was inevitable.

Given that it combines religious, scientific, political, art historical and academic lunacy in one package, Angels & Demons is at least more entertaining than the dreary, talky Da Vinci Code. This time out, heroic Harvard academic and devout agnostic Robert Langdon (a trim Hanks) has only an evening to solve a series of puzzles which have thwarted thinkers for centuries, as Se7en-style mangled corpses (cardinals killed by the four elements) are delivered on the hour before the possible destruction of the entire Vatican by anti-matter stolen from the CERN Large Hadron Collider. It’s still a runabout with footnotes about clues embedded in Bernini statues, as if Renaissance art were all on a level with Where’s Wally, but at least it’s more urgent than last time.

However, there are problems with the film – scripted by David Koepp, who has a track record with wrestling best-sellers into shape (Jurassic Park), and Akiva Goldsman, whose undeserved Beautiful Mind Oscar still doesn’t outweigh Schumacher Batfilm credits – that wouldn’t get past development if they weren’t ported over from a presold hit book (though they do drop the Pope’s clone son angle). Every supporting character acts like an unhelpful idiot to keep the plot stirring, especially the fighting Irish deputy Pope (Ewan McGregor) and the suspicious Swiss Guard (Stellan Skarsgaard). Yet again, a seemingly all-powerful conspiracy seems to consist of two whole evil guys, with one solitary unimpressive hitman (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) pulling off crimes SPECTRE wouldn’t have the manpower to commit.

None of this would matter if Howard didn’t direct at such an even, respectable plod -- with time-outs for lectures delivered in gorgeous sets and locations representing the depths of the Vatican and various Roman tourist attractions. It has okay escapes-from-dire-peril and a you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it Ewan-in-a-chopper trick in the penultimate climax, but material as insane as this cries out for a crackpot visionary like Dario Argento or Richard Stanley.

Verdict
More entertaining than The Da Vinci Code, but still tosh.

Reviewer: Kim Newman

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Average user rating for Angels And Demons

Surprised but not Shocked

I have not seen or read the Da Vinci Code of the book of this film, and have no intention of doing so. I went to watch this film with my wife, who had. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it at all, it had been slated by the press and the content didn't inspire me at all. I was, however, surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's not something I'll be running out to buy on DVD, but I'm glad I saw it on the big screen with the dark and sinistre side of Rome and the Vatican given good space in what is a mys... Read More

aahdlee About me
15:36, 16 January 2010 \| Report This Post




brilliant

it's over the top sure but come on this is really entertaining. i thought the book was good untill the rubbish revelation, but had a sneaking suspicion it would work as a film. well what do you know. brilliant. this is coming from someone who hated the adaptation of the da vinci code by the way. ... Read More

phil blakeman About me
14:58, 13 October 2009 \| Report This Post




Ok...but The Da Vinci Code was better

I watched Angels and Demons at the weekend after buying it from HMV. After reading negative reviews all over the place, I thought I'd give it a chance. I've read the book, and thought with a few exceptions, it kept pretty true to the novel. Tom Hanks was ok this time round as Robert Langdon, but I felt he needed to inject a bit more life into the character. I got the feeling that he was frustrated and at some points, bored of having to provide the expostition of the film. If thats how LAngdo... Read More

Jimlovesfilm About me
15:42, 22 September 2009 \| Report This Post




Why all the bad press for these films?!

I have to say I don't understand the harsh words these filsm get. I absolutley loved The Da Vinci Code, especially the extended version. Saw Angels & Demons last night and throroughly enjoyed it. Agree that the books were better in both cases (apart from the 'James Bond' style helicopter escape by Langdon which I am delighted to say was left out of A & D movie!!) but I will give thumbs up to Ron Howard and team for both movies. Bring on The Lost Symbol...... ... Read More

Lycan About me
12:11, 21 September 2009 \| Report This Post




Entertaining But Over The Top.

Never read the books or seen The Da Vinci Code but my sister's husband told us we had to see Angels And Demons. So I rented it out on Blu-Ray and watched it last night, yes it's entertaining and better than some movies that have been relased lately. But it's over the top, far fetched and too long to make things sense in a numb bumming two hours and twenty minutes. Sure, the cast do a good job and the settings are beautiful to look at but it's not one to keep and watch again and again. ... Read More

joanna likes films About me
09:27, 20 September 2009 \| Report This Post




RE: Entertaining but Ridiculous
Vastly underrated, unlike Da Vinci Code I hadn't read the novel beforehand, and watching with an open mind (and not a mind for criticism of misplaced facts like many) found I thorughly enjoyed it. Fairly surprised with a few characters as well,I thought the twist was decent - not with the revelation of the villain, but more the identities of the good guys. ... Read More

Drone About me
07:25, 14 September 2009 \| Report This Post




Entertaining but Ridiculous

this film is reasonably entertaining but obviously stupid. The twist at the end is hilarious for all the wrong reasons. ... Read More

THE DALTONATOR About me
12:39, 08 September 2009 \| Report This Post




the most boring movie of the most fastest movies

This is an art made a 2 hours movie looks like 10 hours. I didn't read a book but this movie is totally bad - Tom Hanks is talking and running, Ayelet Zurer is just walking and looks like a background with tits. Plot? Well- talking, walking, running, killing... Boring. ... Read More

ARmy2510 About me
01:19, 08 July 2009 \| Report This Post




RE: Angels And Demons

Maybe it's because I've read the book so I know the story, but I didn't find Angels & Demons had enough suspense or thrills. Maybe the kind of mystery / detective style story works better in a book, as you get more of the history and detail as the story grows and you feel more involved, but the screenplay had to cut a lot of detail out, and make a lot of changes, leaving me feeling like I just wasn't drawn into the action. The story felt a little rushed, but still not exciting.... Read More

Gamba About me
11:51, 26 June 2009 \| Report This Post




erm...

It's better than Da Vinci Code but I can't help but think that if it wasn't written by Dan Brown, it might get better reviews? Against by better judgment, I actually enjoyed this film and found it rather intriguing. Yes, it does require suspending (huge amounts of) disbelief but since when is that a bad thing? ... Read More

Jenzy About me
20:43, 11 June 2009 \| Report This Post




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