Movie Review: ANGELS & DEMONS
'Angels & Demons' gives you exactly what it advertises in the trailers that you have seen so if you liked what you saw chances are you'll like the movie, if you didn't then chances are you wont. But I thought it ended up being much better than the first film ‘The DaVinci Code’. I really couldn’t help but enjoy this film. It moved along at a faster pace and the story was told a little bit more clearly. In the end I think this story translated to film much better than the first film.
The main aspect of the movie that stood out for me was that there was a real sense of danger. The threat is real in this movie and there is a sense of urgency to figure things out before it’s to late. The movie plays out like a pretty deadly scavenger hunt. Where if the characters don’t pick up on the clues, and figure out where to go next, and get there on time people will die.
One thing that kind of bugged me about the movie was all the thinking out loud. I understand that the audience needs to be filled in on what’s going on, but the dialogue felt unnatural and forced. In the moment of a highly intense situation I just don’t think a person is going to bust out a history lesson about the Catholic church and the Illuminati and what all their symbols are leading too.
In this story we once again go on a adventure with world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon as he is summoned to Vatacan City shortly after the death of the pope and the kidnapping of the four Pope candidates, to analyze a cryptic symbol. What he discovers is a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a ancient underground organization called the Illuminati. Desperate to save the four kidnapped Cardinals and the Vatican from a powerful antimatter time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantically deadly hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth...the long forgotten Illuminati lair.
It is as exciting as it sounds. I wish this movie would have been made before ‘The DaVinci Code’ I think it would have been received better by the audience.
Ron Howard did a fine job directing the film, at the same time there is nothing that really makes it stand out. All the acting in the film including Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor was alright, nothing to make a big fuss over, we have seen them do much better.
As much as I love the work of all of the people involved with ‘Angels & Demons’ they put together a fun yet mediocre film that was better than the first one. If you feel your going to be disappointed with the movie then there is no need to see the film on the big screen because chances are you have already made up your mind that your not going to like it. If you have a interest in the film then go and check it out you might just like it, but there is always a chance that you won’t. That’s the gamble you have to make with a movie like this.