As noted in the heading this is a review of the film, seen recently on Sky. I have not read the book, but gathered from the media that the story was nonsense. Of course I had also noticed the pre-release 'hype', which is often a bad sign, but now I have seen it I think the film is quite good
The Plot '''' You might need to live on the moon not to have heard about the book. Just in case, the story is set in the present but revolves around a legend that the Knights Templar hunted for and discovered a mysterious artefact in Jerusalem during the crusades, the Grail. They are supposed to have used it to threaten the basis for the authority of the Christian Church, as originally defined and organised by the Roman Emperor Constantine for purely political purposes. But the Catholic establishment got them first. A handful survived and supposedly guarded their treasure down the ages by maintaining a secret and hereditary cult. Unfortunately their activities are only glimpsed in the film, but looked rather fun
The main characters gradually discover the organisation and purposes of the cult, and eventually the Grail itself, in a race with other main characters as agents or double agents of Opus Dei, secretly backed by the modern Church of Rome. There is some 'to do' over symbols and cryptic messages left by the Templars but this is not overdone, while the relatively few but interesting locations and mood are dark and well defined. Nor does the ending seem too lame
Thoughts on the film ''''''''''''''''''''''''' One of the potential problems is that, in a 'cluedo' film like this one, if the clues are too consistent they give you the answers in advance. However because it was well done I thought that the film could be entertaining even if you do not usually like that sort of thing
My own impression was that the characterisation was sharp and unusually good, not brilliant but way above the abysmal average. All the main protagonists gave a convincing performance and this took me out of myself regardless of real surroundings, which is the essence of entertainment. This and the way the story was staged and developed seemed to make a rounded and satisfactory whole. Furthermore the other essential element of pace was fine because the details, not especially fascinating in themselves, were not over emphasised - so it did not drag
The Conspiracy ''''''''''''''''''' I am a sucker for this sort of conspiracy theory. There were some 'historical' flashbacks and references to the establishment of official Christianity which set the scene for a supposed ancient battle between paganism and religion. I thought that the business between the Templars and Catholics rather nicely illustrated this conflict, and helped to sustain the film. In reality a person does not really know what to think, but I digress….
Near the start the character who turned out to be the descendant of Christ announced that she was an atheist. However I guess that controversy concerned the conflation of fictional cults with the Catholic Religion, rather than its less mythical battle against realism, with apologies for another digression.…
If only viewed for immediate gratification there is some fairly shocking violence and ruthlessness but little else in the way of stimulation, except that I did enjoy the background music. Personally I was quite interested in the fantastical premises, being a reasonable counterpart to the propositions of religion, so enjoyed the film for that reason
You really do not have to be a nutter to have fun with this film, but it certainly helps to polarize opinions!
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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
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
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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]")
Jul 27th, 2007
(Aug 22nd, 2007)
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