Thursday, May 14, 2009

Angels and Demons


Directed by Ron Howard

Written by Dan Brown (novel)
David Koepp and Akiva Goldsmith

Starring Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor

The 2006 film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code proved that just because a book sells millions of copies and becomes a best-seller doesn't mean that it will work as a movie. The same goes for the prequel Angels and Demons. Though the story is more fast paced and suspenceful than Da Vinci, you have to wait over half to movie for it to pick up.
The first forty minutes are painfully slow. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) looks at symbols, statues, ancient scriptures, and delves in the Vatacin archives to find his next clue. Langdon cannot go one scene without describing in great detail the history of whatever facts he finds. I'm sure it's interesting and all, but there is so much information being pounded into the veiwers brain that sometimes it becomes overwhelming and hard to follow.
The performances are stiff and dry. Hanks seems bored most of the film, as he sluggishly half jogs to each objective. But to give him some credit, it must be hard to play a character whose excitement peaks when he enters a library. With such a good cast, including Ewan McGregor, its sad to see such talent go to waste.
But if you can stay awake long enough the movie does become intriguing. But this is not going to be a film that stands out from all the other competition coming out this summer.

3 out of 5 stars

2 comments:

  1. Yeaaah. I'd rather watch the preview for 2 hours rather than the entire movie again. It really wasn't as exciting as it made it out to be. Though I really did like it a lot better then the first, and when it picked up near the end, it really finished strong I think.
    Oh, and while I was watching the movie, I discovered that a lot of Catholic art really creeps me the hell out. Is that supposed to happen? XD

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just because a book sells millions of copies and becomes a best seller doesn't mean it works as a book, either.

    ReplyDelete