Film Review: Angels and Demons
Patrick Riley
Issue date: 9/1/09 Section: Arts & Life
In a summer that has seen the likes of such dreary misfires like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Terminator: Salvation," and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Angels & Demons" feels like a breath of fresh air.
Not only is it an immensely entertaining movie in its own right, but it's also a vast improvement of its 2005 predecessor "The DaVinci Code," which was a dull, tedious and seemingly endless thriller that was high up there on my list for the worst film of the year.
Director Ron Howard makes up for the inadequacies of the original by bringing energy and a real sense of urgency to the material that keeps it moving at a brisk clip.
There is never a dull moment in "Angels & Demons," which is a much darker film than its predecessor, and there are even a number of occasions of such nail-biting tension that it had this reviewer holding his breath (the scene where Robert Langdon gets trapped in the Vatican's secret library is almost painfully suspenseful).
And, because the story is more livelier, so are the performances. Tom Hanks actually manages to create something of a personality this time out of his Robert Langdon character, notably because he's given more to do than just stand around delivering exposition for two-and-a-half hours straight.
He even has conversations with other characters that don't revolve around explaining the plot, the best involving a dialogue exchange between him and papal court official Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor), who asks him if he believes in God.
Robert Langdon: "I'm an academic. My mind tells me I will never understand God."
McKenna: "And what does your heart tell you?"
Robert Langdon: "That I'm not meant to. Faith is a gift that I have yet to receive."
Based on the novel by Dan Brown (although whereas his book was a prequel to "The DaVinci Code," this is rewritten to make it a sequel), "Angels & Demons" opens up with the gruesome murder of Father Silvano and the theft of a vial of antimatter from the Organization for Nuclear Research.
Not only is it an immensely entertaining movie in its own right, but it's also a vast improvement of its 2005 predecessor "The DaVinci Code," which was a dull, tedious and seemingly endless thriller that was high up there on my list for the worst film of the year.
Director Ron Howard makes up for the inadequacies of the original by bringing energy and a real sense of urgency to the material that keeps it moving at a brisk clip.
There is never a dull moment in "Angels & Demons," which is a much darker film than its predecessor, and there are even a number of occasions of such nail-biting tension that it had this reviewer holding his breath (the scene where Robert Langdon gets trapped in the Vatican's secret library is almost painfully suspenseful).
And, because the story is more livelier, so are the performances. Tom Hanks actually manages to create something of a personality this time out of his Robert Langdon character, notably because he's given more to do than just stand around delivering exposition for two-and-a-half hours straight.
He even has conversations with other characters that don't revolve around explaining the plot, the best involving a dialogue exchange between him and papal court official Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor), who asks him if he believes in God.
Robert Langdon: "I'm an academic. My mind tells me I will never understand God."
McKenna: "And what does your heart tell you?"
Robert Langdon: "That I'm not meant to. Faith is a gift that I have yet to receive."
Based on the novel by Dan Brown (although whereas his book was a prequel to "The DaVinci Code," this is rewritten to make it a sequel), "Angels & Demons" opens up with the gruesome murder of Father Silvano and the theft of a vial of antimatter from the Organization for Nuclear Research.
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