director: Ron Howard
writers: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman
starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer
genre: Thriller
Going into Angels and Demons or Illuminati or however you want to call it I thought I was going into religious conspiracy film but what I also got was an scientific and archaeological theoretical mumbo jumbo that is not only not intriguing but make the viewer wonder why did they waste their time and money on this.
I have to note that this is technically a prequel but because Da Vinci Code came out first this was made into a sequel. Now after Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) first adventure he's now back and comfortable in his academic environment but not too long until somebody needs his help. After a molecular thingamajig has been stolen from the CERN experiment there have been rumors of the Illuminati involment and making a hit on the Vatican Vatican Vatican
Its weird how this franchise is going to continue without having a great leading character. In the books he might be a interesting character but not in the movies it's a whole other story. Whats missing is admirable characteristics, the actor is there but he has nothing to work with. He isn’t Indian Jones in so many words. Hes not charming, has no finise, dosent make jokes, dosent fight. Now you might be asking yourself what does he do. Something that every scholar does, speak about ancient things with a great knowledge and lead the police closer to the crime. How marvelous and memorable of a lead character. No way there is going to be a third film with a lame lead, bad script and already badly documented performance in the worldwide box office or at least we can hope.
If it only was Langdon's character we would think of the franchise in a different light. But its also the film’s plot which is kind of preposterous to me. The film’s bad guys the Illuminati for the most part of the film are not shown, so it doesn't help us feel their wrath or motives. Also the whole technology vs. religion debate that is within the film though interesting is never played out as much as it was needed. And last but not least I've seen better depictions of the Illuminati in b-movies like Tomb Raider. We are meant to believe that this organization of around two men as we find out in the film (spoiler) were able to go into an top level scientific facility and steal something. Inst that a bit too far fetched.
To conclude the film is boring, high faluting and very predictable. There are no jokes, no romances, no cool set pieces and in the end comes all down too one man who knows everything, finds clues and catches the bad guy. By the end of the movie we have wasted are time, money and all our faith in these kind of films. Lets just hope the rest of the summer films will be of higher quality.
Personal Rating:
Review by Paul
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