Angels and Demons

The Dan Brown adaptation that follows up the mega-hit Davinci Code reteams Ron Howard with Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon doing battle against the mysterious and evil forces of the religious underworld. This particular battle pits him against the ancient anti-Catholic group, the Illuminati.

Our story begins at the CERN nuclear research laboratory in Geneva. The pope has just died and anti-matter has just been stabilized. These two plot lines intersect in a cat and mouse game of beat the clock where only Robert Langdon can decipher the ancient coded messages to save the Vatican, as well as the future of all Catholics in the world. Pretty heavy, and unrealistic, right? Not as much as you would think.

Howard took a goldmine opportunity in Davinci Code and turned it into a cinematic joke that didn't do the literary rendition justice at all. Brown found a niche in his works that the public has voraciously consumed, and for good reason; everyone loves conspiracy theories. Secret societies who control like puppet-masters while providing hidden clues in plain sight only to be decoded by ivy league educated professors - sounds like a Nicholas Cage movie, right? Wrong. Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are class acts, and they took the mistakes made in Davinci Code and put thoughtful changes into the follow-up.

I was very impressed with how much better this adaptation was than the first. It may have been because the source material is even more compelling, and it may have been because there was a more frenetic pace to the story - a more linear path from the initial dilemma to the climactic conclusion, but either way, it worked in ways that Davinci Code failed miserably.

Tom Hanks got a haircut for starters. He also was given a more noticeable sense of humor which is a more natural bond between the actor and the character, therefore creating more believability. There was also more action and violence, which was one of the more captivating elements of the novel. The story does delve into absurd territory in more ways than I can count, but the entertainment value is high. Ron Howard hit the mark, and corrects and absolves himself of any lingering Davinci stigma.

Ewan McGregor shines in a supporting role as the Camerlengo, the custodian of papal duties in absence of an active pope. The rest of the cast is remarkably... European, and effective in their respective roles.

Although the story takes some strange turns, the symbology and decoding is far more realistic than the shots in the dark that move along Davinci. This is the redemption piece by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, and should do well at the box office because it is a well made film based on an extremely entertaining book.

I would recommend this one for a brief escape from reality, albeit, not as cool as adamantium claws or traverses through the space-time continuum, but it holds its own as the summer blockbuster lineup draws closer. The scenery is also very impressive - a whirlwind tour of the Vatican and Rome and all of the religious art and sculptures that inhabit its proverbial walls.

Don't judge this one based on the first attempt, this one has made all of the necessary corrections, and even the unbelievable parts of the novel have been downplayed so that they don't overwhelm the flow and pace. 8/10.