Movie Review
3 years back, director Ron Howard disappointed Dan Brown fans worldwide with his poorly made and somewhat botched-up adaptation of Brown's highly controversial but best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code.
Now, Howard returns with Angels and Demons, the follow-up to the fast-paced thriller. Originally written before The Da Vinci Code, the story starts out with the brutal murder of a senior physicist at CERN, Geneva, and the theft of the first-ever macroscopic sample of antimatter produced.
Violence and mayhem ensue, as the cannister containing the antimatter is planted inside the walls of the Vatican, threatening to blow up the City of God.
The film starts out fairly well, with Zimmer's mesmerizing track "Sangreal de Chevaliers" seuging through the opening credits. About 25 minutes in, however, the movie descends into an extremely fast-paced but shabbily put-together thriller to the end. The very break-neck speed and thrill-inducing adrenaline that made the book a bestseller translate poorly on screen. The movie soon becomes a shallow , superficial adaptation of Brown's work, by almost ignoring its main theme : the everlasting war between science and religion. A fair part of the book has been hacked off, and avid fans of the novel will find that the characters in the film have either been made to look like drastic modifications of the original ones, or have been erased entirely. Sadly, Tom Hanks too, fails to deliver this time, except for a few scenes.
The film's only strength lies in its riveting music , composed by Hans Zimmer (which has again been blatantly overused), Ewan McGregor's subtle performance, and the colourful and fluid photography. These factors make the film mildly rewarding despite its incessant flaws.
Although readers of the book will be disappointed, others may find Angels and Demons a slightly-above-average and occasionally entertaining popcorn thriller.
Now, Howard returns with Angels and Demons, the follow-up to the fast-paced thriller. Originally written before The Da Vinci Code, the story starts out with the brutal murder of a senior physicist at CERN, Geneva, and the theft of the first-ever macroscopic sample of antimatter produced.
Violence and mayhem ensue, as the cannister containing the antimatter is planted inside the walls of the Vatican, threatening to blow up the City of God.
The film starts out fairly well, with Zimmer's mesmerizing track "Sangreal de Chevaliers" seuging through the opening credits. About 25 minutes in, however, the movie descends into an extremely fast-paced but shabbily put-together thriller to the end. The very break-neck speed and thrill-inducing adrenaline that made the book a bestseller translate poorly on screen. The movie soon becomes a shallow , superficial adaptation of Brown's work, by almost ignoring its main theme : the everlasting war between science and religion. A fair part of the book has been hacked off, and avid fans of the novel will find that the characters in the film have either been made to look like drastic modifications of the original ones, or have been erased entirely. Sadly, Tom Hanks too, fails to deliver this time, except for a few scenes.
The film's only strength lies in its riveting music , composed by Hans Zimmer (which has again been blatantly overused), Ewan McGregor's subtle performance, and the colourful and fluid photography. These factors make the film mildly rewarding despite its incessant flaws.
Although readers of the book will be disappointed, others may find Angels and Demons a slightly-above-average and occasionally entertaining popcorn thriller.
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