Henry Saw: Angels and Demons

Well it's better than Da Vinci Code



A few thoughts on Angels and Demons:

As I said above...this is a far superior film to The Da Vinci code. Perhaps not as interesting a story but Angels and Demons contains superior action, better pacing, less silly Tom Hanks hair, and stronger film-making all around (the direction, script, score, etc. have all been improved from Da Vinci Code). Still, while it may be better than the previous Dan Brown adaptation, it's still not that good.

I'll let IMDB tell us the plot: Despite his notorious relationship with the Church, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is once again called upon to decipher the clues to a catastrophic conspiracy. The Pope has died, and before conclave can begin to determine his successor, the four preferitti (primary hopefuls for the papacy) are kidnapped. An ominous threat of their hourly demise, along with the complete annihilation of Vatican City, is issued as an elaborate revenge scheme for a persecuted group known as the Illuminati. With their meager time limit steadily counting down, Langdon, accompanied by beautiful physicist Vittoria Vetra, must travel throughout Rome to unravel the carefully hidden signs that will lead them to a terrifying adversary, a harrowing discovery, and the shocking truth...

The first 40 minutes are slow and frustrating. Yes, getting information on the history of The Illuminatti (the antagonist of the film) is actually quite interesting, but a special on the History Channel would have accomplished the same thing.

Once the action really kicks into gear the movie picks up, but still has the basic flaw of having almost every scene being Tom Hanks pointing at a clue only he can see and explaining something to whomever is with him (and therefore us). No matter how fast the cars drive through Rome, or how menacing they make the Swiss Guard, it's just not that compelling when the audiance is always 2 steps behind the hero, who is always 5 steps behind the villain.

A secondary plot in the film involves a character named Camerlengo Patrick McKenna who is played by Ewan McGregor. McKenna, as Carmerlengo, holds the "authority" of the Pope while a new Pope is being selected so he is put right in the middle of the situation. McKenna must confront Cardinals and the Swiss Guard to help try to solve another part of the mystery. The parts of the film dealing with McGregor's character added something different, a slightly more thoughtful side, to the the film. A very brief, and shallow, discussion of the Church's role in the modern world is brought up which caught my attention and had me thinking during film but this isn't a very smart movie so those thoughts disappeared five seconds after I left the theater.

As there must be in this kind of movie there is a twist at the end that was very easy to predict...like incredibly easy...and the movie's conclusion hardly stays with you at the end.

Look, this strikes me as a perfect airplane movie. It's harmless, it's not exactly smart but mentions some interesting history, it has some pretty shots of Rome (though some of the CGI'ed locations look awful) and is perfectly entertaining if you have low expectations and can stomach 2 hours of Tom Hanks pointing at things and pretending to be smart.

Grade: C+

Best Scene: When Robert Langdon explains who the Illuminatti were and what the church did to them (not the most exciting scene but I thought it was the most interesting.)