MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Angels and Demons Rated PG-13

Directed by Ron Howard.  Starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor.


Photo © Sony/Columbia Pictures
Movie Review by Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

I have often thought that you can rarely make a great film out of a great book, but you can often improve a popular potboiler in transfer to the screen. (The Godfather, Jaws, and even The Notebook come to mind.) 

It’s really something, however, to adapt a relatively ludicrous novel into an even dumber film but, by golly, director Ron Howard and screenwriters Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp have done it! 

Angels and Demons is based on the novel by Dan Brown that first featured symbologist and all-around wiseguy Professor Robert Langdon (later featured in The DaVinci Code).  Although this story takes place in the Vatican and has a plot that suggests a conflict between science and faith, there is none of the controversy that surrounded The DaVinci Code present in this movie. 

Prof. Langdon is summoned to Vatican City to help locate a ticking time bomb (brought to the Vatican by followers of The Illuminati, long-time foes of the Church).  Langdon gets closer and closer to the explosive device by following symbolic clues hidden centuries ago by The Illuminati throughout the streets of the holy city.  For some amazing reason, this American knows more abut religious history than the Catholic hierarchy. 

Meanwhile, a beloved pope has died and cardinals from around the world have been summoned to elect a successor.  But, wouldn’t you know it?  The four leading candidates for the papal office are kidnapped and held hostage by the same guy who has armed the countdown timer.  These men are being killed every hour on the hour by the man who planted the explosive device.  And, with each murder, another clue is revealed.  But Langdon has to find the bomb before midnight and – aw, who cares? 

This is probably one of the dumbest “suspense” films ever made, since the plot requires that our hero make the right choice every time (including getting out of a couple of death-defying situations) in order for the next piece of the puzzle to fall into place.  And Langdon (a fairly interesting person on the printed page) is one of the more irritating characters on screen, interrupting the story every other minute to share some tidbit of knowledge about a statue, a painting, or a symbol.

Tom Hanks, one of the most appealing actors in film, is turned into an obnoxious Mr. Know-It-All.  In its favor, the film is fast-moving and the computer-assisted depiction of Vatican City is something to behold.  Be sure to check your brain at the door, though.  You really won’t need it for this film.

Pitchfork Rating:
One halo ( A mildly diverting but overcooked stew pot of highfalutin’ hooey, with a couple of nice observations about faith.) Two pitchforks(An amazing amount of violent images for a PG-13 film.]

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