Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Just noticed the review formatting has returned, thank god for that
Member since:29.08.2002
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The Da Vinci Code seems to have been the biggest phenomenon in the world for the last couple of years. Dan Brown's book appeared out of nowhere and seemed to become an overnight success. Then there was the movie, released earlier this year on Cinema audiences to an enormous amount of hype. It seemed to be targeted at everyone, people who couldn't be bothered to read the book and a chance for those that had to see how it translated to the big screen. While I thought that Angels and Demons was the better book I was quite keen to see how the Da Vinci Code transferred to the movie format.
When the curator of the Louvre gallery in Paris is murdered the police are keen to question Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) about the discovery of the body. While Bezu Fasche (Jean Reno) is interrogating him, Langdon discovers he is infact the one and only suspect and Fasche is trying to get a confession from him. Assisted by a French police cryptographer, Langdon manages to get away from Fasche and set about clearing his name.
From there he and Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) must stay one step ahead of the police and cross France and England in order to try and prove he wasn't involved.
I made sure before seeing the film that I had finished the book as I always thing that's the best way to do it. Quite often the perception of a film can be changed after reading the book it's based on and vice versa. In comparison while I found the Da Vinci code movie a decent couple of hour's entertainment, I did think it could have been much better. In fact I never thought I'd say this but it could have done with being longer as a few important bits from the book seemed to be totally skipped over. While this may not have been critical details they skipped I felt that it would have enhanced the film and both my girlfriend and I felt it would have been of more benefit having it in there.
Apart from this slight omission to the overall plot I was very impressed with Ron Howard's direction of the movie. Of course he had already made a name for himself with Apollo 13 but I thought this is by far the best film I've seen with him at the helm. The scenes flowed quite smoothly and the camera angles and special effects really added to the overall effect of the film. At times the scene's felt a little dark but they added a nice atmosphere to it. Of course Howard changed parts of the plot to fit into the way he seen the film progressing.
It is a well written story and the simplicity of the original novel lends itself well to the movie adaptation. In fact all of Brown's novels seem to be in the pipeline of becoming films and the Da Vinci Codes success will certainly ensure that happens. The special effects, direction and story all make for a decent enough film, but it's not quite as good as it had the potential to be. The characters back stories are gradually revealed to the audience and it makes for quite good characterisation. The cast thought seems to be where they really got things right.
I'm not normally a huge fan of Hanks, I find myself having a bit of a love hate with him, but that's normally down to the characters he plays. I was pretty impressed with him in the Da Vinci Code though and he really captured the feel and suited the image of Langdon. There was also a lot of chemistry between him and Tautou, a mainly French actress, who also impressed me immensely with her performance. She took to the role as Agent Neveu so well and as her first foray into the world of Hollywood movies she certainly did an impressive job.
I was also quite impressed with Paul Bettany as Silas the monk. His performance was quite dark and mysterious and he really seemed to fit the role quite nicely. Likewise Ian Mckellan as Sir Leigh Teabing works really well for the story over all. He gives quite a convincing performance that really brings the character to life. The cast was the real plus point of the movie and made up for the parts of the story that have been changed around or missed out to fit the plans for future movies.
Overall it's a fairly decent movie. The story has been changed a bit to suit and that to anyone who's read the book will make the film a little less enjoyable. It does however work well for anyone who has not read the book. It gives a decent overview of the story and the acting and direction are decent enough to make it a decent enough 2 hours 20 minutes. I would recommend it but if you're a huge fan of the books it may turn out to be a bit of a disappointment.
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Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Extremely smooth and well written review which is nicely balanced. Clearly an E
starsally 03.06.2007 18:34
I was quite excited about this coming out but then didn't bother seeing it as I quite liked the detail in the book!
missy0303 18.11.2006 13:15
This is actually one of the first fairly positive reviews I've read/heard about the dvd....I loved the book and do agree that Angels and demons was superior....but still want to watch the film...I will eventually get around to it I imagine. x
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Nov 5th, 2006
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