By Annette Seifert
The man with the Mickey Mouse watch is back. No, not Ron Howard, but Robert Langdon, Dan Brown’s brainy hero from best-selling pseudo-factual novels “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels & Demons” with a third one on the way to ensure Hollywood has another trilogy on its hands.
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is called by the Vatican to battle an age-old foe of the church – the Illuminati, an ancient secret society opposing the church. With the Pope dead and the Papal Conclave about to start, the Illuminati got their hands on a canister of antimatter, hidden somewhere in Vatican City, and are threatening to blow up the seat of the Catholic church. The four Cardinals most likely to succeed the Pope have been abducted by a ruthless assassin working for the Illuminati who leave their mark by branding their victims with ambigrams inspired by the four elements for some reason that escapes me. With the Illuminati’s promise to kill one of the four abducted Cardinals in a fittingly gruesome way every hour before the bomb goes off, the chase is on between Langdon and the ruthless killer and the audience willing to suspend any and all disbelief.
The formula is typical Dan Brown: a mix of pseudo-history, symbolism and travelogue, much like the previous film. “The Da Vinci Code” in 2006 was a surprisingly slow-moving and decidedly unexciting film version of a novel that seems like it was written to be adapted for the big screen. With cliffhanger endings to each chapter and a fast-paced race through Europe to solve one riddle after the next, it was somewhat baffling how dull Ron Howard’s film ended up being, despite raking in enough money to warrant a sequel.
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| Let me show you the way... |
Looks like everyone involved learned their lessons this time around, helped by a better set-up that adds a constant element of time running out to keep things moving at a swifter pace. The script is tighter as well – unsurprising, considering the fact that Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp got to share $9 million for the script adaptation alone. Which doesn’t mean it’s actually good, given some horrendous dialogue and lack of originality. The plot is ridiculous if you allow yourself to think for a moment and ties up too neatly in the end, but Rome is nice to look at.
Character development is non-existent, as the film relies on stock archetypes and clichéd situations, but the film is helped immensely by Hans Zimmer’s score that may actually be the best part of the movie (despite borrowing heavily from the two recent Batman scores). Given the script, one has to admire Armin Müller-Stahl and Ewan McGregor, who actually manage to rise above the material and deliver fine performances. Tom Hanks is believable as Langdon, who is a bookish version of Indiana Jones on his better days, but ultimately turns in an uninspired performance. And if you’re not too familiar with the Dan Brown formula, the film will hold some twists and turns for you as well.
The big downside is the blatant disregard of the audience’s intelligence. Unbelievable science fiction elements like antimatter bombs aside, it’s the constant summing up of events through exposition given by characters or cuts to news reporters telling us what is going on every five minutes that makes watching the film somewhat tedious. True suspense is missing as well, as we’re not really invested in any of the characters that lack basic backstories and motivations (McGregor’s Camerlengo the only exception). He actually holds the film together, despite Howard or the scriptwriters missing the ultimate irony of the character from the novel.
Ron Howard’s direction is solid, if nothing exciting or innovative, and as a summer blockbuster it succeeds in being mindless fun that actually appears to tackle bigger subjects such as science vs. religion without ever really scratching anything more than the bare surface or rising above blatantly obvious symbology without any inherently deeper meaning (ironic, given the main character's occupation). The angel pointing the way truly is the angel pointing the way. The summer is here and mindless fare like this will rule the box office once again. Watch out for “Transformers 2” coming out in two weeks. At least there are no CGI robots in this one.
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Published: 21/11/2009