Movie Review: Angels & Demons – 2009 (2.5/5 stars)
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ayelet Zurer
Three years ago “The Da Vinci Code,” one of the most commercially successful and controversial movies of all time, was released to both considerable criticism and universal skepticism. Upon its release, protestors around the world tied the film to words like “blasphemy” and “shame,” but nonetheless the film went on to become the 27th most profitable movie of all time in terms of worldwide box office gross. Veteran filmmaker Ron Howard’s latest adaptation of Dan Brown’s book series, “Angels & Demons,” is sure to incite the same sort of denouncement, albeit not to the same extent. I walked into the movie theater hoping that this sequel would offer more than just the simple action and poor screenwriting presented by its predecessor. I walked out with the unfortunate realization that while it is an intelligently crafted and impressively directed film, it still fails to hide some familiar problems.
Oddly enough, the film’s plot is based on the novel of the same name that precedes The Da Vinci Code, however the events in the big screen version take place after the premise of the first film. Professor Robert Langdon, once again portrayed by Tom Hanks, is back teaching at Harvard when he is once again called upon by the Vatican to make an unexpected return to Rome. We learn that a virtually unknown and highly protected sealed vial of anti-matter was stolen from the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. Credit for the crime is given to the Illuminati, a secret society that has a vendetta with the Catholic Church as a result of the historic persecution of scientists like Galileo. A “pope of the people” has just passed away, and it is now time for the cardinals to choose his successor. Conveniently, the four favorites to win have been kidnapped and will be assassinated one by one until the battery on the vial runs out of power, resulting in a “catastrophic” explosion in and around the Vatican.
Langdon is asked to use his symbol reading skills (and unbelievable luck) to follow the sequence of Illuminati signs through several Roman churches. Just as in the first film, none of these situations seem too difficult for Robert, as he brushes through each puzzle with little strain on his mind. He is again accompanied by an attractive female sidekick, this time in the form of fellow genius Vittoria Vetra (sent by CERN), portrayed by Ayelet Zurer. Analogous to Audrey Tautou’s character in “The Da Vinci Code,” Vittoria has personal interest in this case, as her father was murdered during the theft of the anti-matter. Her main purpose in this film is unfortunately also analogous to that of Tautou’s simple and demoted character: to run around Europe with Tom Hanks and provide him with someone to converse with.
Other characters that accompany Hanks in his journey include the young Camerlengo (played perfectly by Ewan McGregor), the pope’s head of security (Stellan Skarsgard) and Cardinal Strauss (Armin Mueller Stahl), the man behind the election of the pope. With the help of a menacing demeanor and sinister accent provided by respected veteran Armin Stahl, the Cardinal Strauss character seems to be the obvious suspect, a hypothesis that is later proven to be false. Big surprise right? … Didn’t think so.
While the story moves extremely quickly (often too quickly), the movie does a better job of showcasing the expertise of both director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13,” “Frost/Nixon”) and star Tom Hanks. What is present in this film includes good performances, a massive budget, impressive production value, and pure entertainment. However, like “The Da Vinci Code” before it, “Angels & Demons” is missing a sensible and logical storyline for moviemakers to build off of. With Dan Brown’s upcoming release of the third novel in his Robert Langdon series, “The Lost Symbol”, Ron Howard is bound to take another shot at achieving perfection. Unfortunately, for those involved, I doubt that the third time will be a charm.