Cast : Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor
Direction : Ron Howard
Duration : 2 hours 15 minutes

After James Bond, Spider man, Superman and Harry Potter, Robert Langdon can be considered an iconic character which captivated the minds of Indians. Dan Brown’s Davinci code was popular in India firstly because of its controversy and later due to its delivery of reading experience. Then it enticed the audience with celluloid avatar, which was a box office hit, but not very well appreciated by critics.

Angels and Demons, based on Dan Brown’s novel with the same title has reached celluloid three years after Davinci Code. Robert Langdon returns to investigate a deadly threat to the Catholic Church. Like Brown’s other novels this one is also racy, things happening in a matter of hours and cutting chapters in between actions, thus cliffhanging the readers.

The Catholic Church hasn’t made much a controversy with this film as they didn’t want to help the people who are not their messengers. Also this film serves as a tour video of Rome and Vatican City, though most part where re-created in Hollywood. It would probably boost tourists.

The film’s variables are religion + politics+ art+ history - time
Angels & Demons was written as prequel and filmed as sequel. On a lighter side viewers in our country may feel as if this was shot in Indian condition as we witness power cut happening with out notice more than once in the movie.


Adaptation

The single most important problem is the over explanation. Langdon is voicing text books like there’s no tomorrow. Film is a visual medium. While adapting novel to a film it needs to be told through visuals, but Dan Brown’s novel being Sci-fi, related to scripture, which is techie and is beyond the reach of common man to understand. In between tension situations the protagonist is lecturing which kills the joy of cinema. It won’t strike a code in the audience as they can’t use heart and brain together.

The effect of not taking enough work to convey visually lets Dan Brown novel adaptation a letdown for his fans and viewers.

The maker seems to be slightest bit interested in exploring the characters. Langdon being right all the time about vague clues is almost impossible, but possible in film world.

The helicopter scene near to climax was breath taking.

Story

Angels and demons deal with Brown’s pet subject Christianity. In the history books we have studied that church was against science and scientist in the dark ages.

The film starts with the death of Pope; the four cardinals who are primary candidates to contest for next Pope have been kidnapped.

In Geneva, a leading scientist is murdered in his laboratory with a symbol carved into his chest. It is also found that a canister of anti-matter was stolen from his laboratory. Symbology professor Robert Langdon, Tom Hanks is called in to help with investigation. Evidence suggests the involvement of the Illuminati— the ancient society of scholars and artists.

Langdon theorize antimatter will explode somewhere in Vatican and has just a few hours to solve the riddle.
The film concludes in a secular manner. Science and religion are not enemies. Science is only young that it needs to grow up to religion.

Director Ron Howard, after the box office success of The Da Vinci Code which can largely be attributed to the popularity of book, strikes back again. This time, author Dan Brown too had creative contributions into the film.

Low point of the movie is, the truth is revealed and the villain is found as in a B grade Hindi movie. Sets created, Art works, Research done, the special effects are all as we expect a Hollywood film to be. But Angels and Demons have problems with adapting the novel.

Watchable film even though less thrilling.

Thanseer M.A
3/5