28 from Glasgow, love films - so you'll probably only ever see me write about them lol
28 from Glasgow, love films - so you'll probably only ever see me write about them lol
Member since:08.03.2004
Reviews:116
Members who trust:9
You'd have to have been stranded on an iceberg near the sinking of the Titanic not to have heard of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, a book that questions the basis of Christianity and whether the holy grail is indeed an existing blood line or not. The book itself has shifted a zillion copies despite actually not really being that well written. Here, the text finds itself into film adaption, and a faithful one it is. Tom Hanks, the only actor known to Ron Howard, takes on leading duties as Robert Langdon, the professor who is unwittingly dragged into the mystery after the Head of the famous Louvre Gallery is found murdered on its grounds with various clues pointing towards Da Vinci's famous paintings being an interpretation of the holy bloodlink. Sophie, the granddaughter of the murder victim, is on hand to lend her own expertise to Robert as he finds himself on the run in a cat and mouse chase with the French Police, a self harming monk who will stop at nothing to maintain the secrets of the grail for his leaders, and an elderly eccentric who might not be all that he seems. But the most surpisingly revelation, or perhaps not, is the identity of the holy blood line and just what the founders of a secret and deadly alliance will do to stop the identity of the holy grail being revealed.
The book threw up questions that are lost in the translation here. The film plods along with clunky dialogue and too many confusing plot threads that aren't easily explained with dialogue and cant neccessarily be interpreted by the art of acting. Despite not being the obvious choice (bizzarely enough considering Ron Howard chucks him out at every available chance) Tom Hanks makes a rather interesting choice for the part, and does his best to make it his own, but you still have the image of what he should be like on your mind and it deviates from Hanks everyman performance. Better casting choices are evident though in the brilliant and almost too perfect casting of Sir Ian McKellan who is spot on as the elderely eccentric friend of Robert's who will do anything to get his hands on the secret of the scroll. Paul Bettany is outstanding as Silas, again exactly as you pictured him when reading the book. The weak spots are Audrey Tautou, who quite frankly is the worst English AND French speaking actress on film, and Jean Reno who, despite being integral to the story, seems rather pointless on film. As mentioned earlier, the film stays enormously faithful to its source, and you could probably read the book along with watching the film. The failure of it seems to lie in the hands of director Ron Howard, who is clumsy in his direction despite being a veteran of this type of mid-paced drama, and the casting couch he seemed to get it so right in some places and so wrong in others. Perhaps though, the biggest problem with the film is that the story, despite all its hype and bravado, wasn't really written that well and has an ordinary, if not weak, premise that has been handled better by better writers.
The DVD is available on 1 disc and 2 disc editions. The 2 disc edition has various special featurettes, of which the best are "A Portrait of Robert Langdon" which shows what the character could have been in the right hands, and a documentary about Mona Lisa up close and personal. The rest are short and a bit hit and miss. But the DVD package is well put together and its obvious that despite the obvious flaws in the film that the makers actually cared about the film and wanted it to work. The look of the film is crisp and the sound is pretty good as well. If only better films had this much thought into their extra's, I would be a happy man.
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I liked this review a lot but am not sure what to make of 'Perhaps though, the biggest problem with the film is that the story, despite all its hype and bravado, wasn't really written that well and has an ordinary, if not weak, premise that has been handled better by better writers.' - obviously it is religious fantasy, and perhaps there is no other sort if the rationalists are to be 'believed' instead - apart from this I thought it was very helpful
reddragonflame87 29.11.2006 15:26
By the end of this film in the cinema I was literally drowning myself in my drink, I was THAT FLAMIN' BORED!
Critics and controversy aside,The Da Vinci Codeis a verifiable blockbuster. Combine the ... more
film's huge worldwide box-office take with over 100 million copies of Dan Brown's book sold, and The Da Vinci Code has clearly made the leap from pop-culture hit to...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Dan Brown's international bestseller comes alive in the film The Da Vinci Code, directed ... more
By Academy Award Winner Ron Howard (2001 Directing, A Beautiful Mind). Join symbologist Robert Langdon (Academy Award Winner Tom Hanks, 1993 Best Actor, Philadelph...
Advantages: Fun, fast paced and intelligent. A great cast and enjoyable to watch. Disadvantages: Somewhat of a let down in some respects to the book (but could be worse)
MattMan101 10.12.2007 (11.12.2007)
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Review of The Da Vinci Code (DVD)
![The Da Vinci Code (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2006]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78501039.jpg "The Da Vinci Code (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2006]")
Nov 29th, 2006
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