Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received ...
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone on Ciao! many thanks for all the r/r/c's I've received throughout the year! RIP Holly, Christmas wont be the same without you...
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:241
Members who trust:90
- Introduction -
I'd imagine most people will have heard of The Da Vinci Code, whether that be the original Dan Brown novel or this, the Hollywood movie based on the novel. I got this movie on official DVD along with some others from a relative last year and although I had passed it on to my parents to watch last year sometime, I hadn't watched it myself and it sat in my DVD tower for some time, until I finally decided I just had to watch it recently lol. I was put off watching it on a Saturday night due to the long running time (nearly two and a half hours), since I prefer to watch a movie, if I do on a Saturday night, between 9-11pm so it would overrun that but anyway I I finally sat down and watched it last night. I hadn't read the novel, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, other than that the story had alot to do with Christianity and the Bible I believed. I wasn't sure how entertaining it might be but that turned out not to be such an issue. If you want to find out more, read on...
- Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) - Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382625/fullcredits)
Director - Ron Howard Writers - Akiva Goldsman (screenplay), Dan Brown (Novel) Producers - John Calley, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard Associate Producers - Kathleen McGill, Louisa Velis Executive Producers - Dan Brown, Todd Hallowell Cinematography - Salvatore Totino
- Story (incl. some of the acting cast) -
The movie starts with a man trying to steal a painting, who gets caught by somebody else that makes him admit something and then shoots the burgular.
Next we're shown Doctor Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) giving a talk on interpreting symbols. He learns, after this
talk, that this man has been killed and Captain Bezu Fache (played by Jean Reno) asks for Roberts help.
When Robert visits the crime scene, he realises that there is alot more to this than meets the eye and along with cryptologist Sophie Neveu (played by Audrey Tautou), they set out to follow riddles they find which point towards an old myth being true, which could have devastating consequences.
What is it and who would suffer the consequences? and is it true? well you'll have to watch the movie to find out, of course.
- Genre/Themes -
This is a drama/suspense movie with a strong focus on old religious folklore and conspiracy theory.
- Thoughts/Opinions/Extra Information -
For a start, this is note a movie for the particularly squeamish, as there is flagellation shown (someone inflicts pain through whipping etc. on themselves), even in the beginning of the movie, which I did find quie off-putting, although I was aware such scenes would be present as it was noted on the back of the DVD box. There aren't too many of such scenes but they were still very much 'look away moments' to me.
The movie has a very dark feel to it, obviously with the story based alot on religion and a sort of 'deep dark past' sense and with folklore and conspiracy theory aspects featuring. This is a movie I imagine those interested in conspiracy theories (esp. those relating to the Bible and/or Christ) would enjoy. Like I say, most people will have heard of the novel by Dan Brown, which was a best seller a few years ago, though I haven't read it myself, so I can't comment on how similar the movie is to the novel.
The movie, though it may sound a bit stuffy, subject-wise, it does feature some decent action in it, in terms of a few car chase senses and other scenes where Robert and Sophie are on the run. There's a particularly good one of Sophie reversing along French streets in a Smart car, which is pretty hair raising!.
Along with Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, Sir Ian McKellen (possibly more well known for his appearance in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy) also appears in the movie as a rich man who is a real fanatic on the Holy Grail. Other actors in this movie include Alfred Molina and Paul Bettany.
In the movie, there are flashback scenes, showing a characters past and from Bible scenes, which are drained of alot of colour and have an 'aged' look about them and in that way, they are quite atmospheric, I suppose.
Also be aware of the fact that there are quite alot of subtitles, French subtitles to be exact, as the movie is set, at the start, in France (and the Captain who is always trying to track Robert and Sophie down, is, of course, French), so this might put some put some off watching it.
I would also say that, incase this isn't already clear, the story is quite complicated, as well as fast paced, so you have to pay close attention to the movie, to whats said (ie the dialogue) as well as to the subtitles, to properly follow it, so with a running time of just over two hours and twenty minutes, its neither the shortest movie nor the easiest one to follow.
As far as the cast are concerned, I thought that generally the performances given were pretty good. There was something about Tom Hanks' performances in this role which I felt was a bit 'off' though. It almost seemed as if he was in a role that was a bit too much for him and he was perhaps struggling a bit. I know that the character would seem as if he's struggling, given the plot and what goes on but I couldn't help but feel as if there was something slightly amiss with his performance somehow and considering I generally only ever say that performances are good, I thought I might as well mention this here, to prove im not too biased when commenting about actors performances, so make of that what you will!.
I also felt that Audrey Tautou gave a particularly good performance and Sir Ian McKellen was also quite convincing in his role and played the somewhat stereotyped English religious, or religious conspiracy theory, fanatic quite well too. Paul Bettany as Silas was really quite spooky too, I think thats about the only word I can think to use for that character!.
- Certificate -
The Da Vinci Code is rated 12 in the UK due mainly to the scenes of flagellation (which I mentioned above and although there aren't many such scenes, they did put me off quite a bit and at the time I wondered if a 15 certificate perhaps wouldn't have been more appropriate... I think had there been anymore such scenes, or if it were at all more frequent, it would have to be at least a 15 certificate but as it is, there's only a couple of such graphic scenes).
I don't remember there being any particularly foul language used but there is some other mild to moderate violence and nudity/sexual content.
- Official Website -
The official webiste for the movie can be found here:- http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thedavincicode/index.html Here you can buy the 2-disc DVD or other items (a gift set and PSP version/format of the movie). You can also find information about the movie, a photo gallery, some video clips and information on the special features that can be found on the DVD.
Yes again this is a Flash Player 9 based site, so check you have an up to date version of Flash installed before loading the website.
- Conclusions -
This is a somewhat interesting, although quite 'heavy' in plot and even dark in a way, movie. Its quite complicated but if its something that interests you, then it may be worth renting or catching on pay per view at most. I'm not sure whether to recommend it or not, I haven't read the book like I've said already but I did think there were a couple of decent performances and if your really interested in the subject matter, it may interest you more than it did me, so I'll say yes but give it an overall lower rating, if that makes sense... also I don't feel that I will want to watch it again, now that I've seen it.
There is action, with car chase scenes and there are some plot twists to keep you interested enough to keep watching but the subject matter might well put people off, for either seeming rather uninteresting, boring or dry, or for those who are particularly religious, for instance Catholics, they would likely be quite offended by what is implied or what is supposedly discovered in this movie, I'd presume (although it is, obviously, fictional, right?!).
Others might feel its just too far fetched, so, its certainly in no means 'perfect' but I think, all things considered, that it works fairly well for the kind of movie it is. It has enough action alongside the story, to keep the viewer watching and there are some good performances from a pretty decent cast, so while im aware of the disadvantages and advantages, I've decided to rate this overall as satisfactory, 3 out of 5.
I hope that this review is useful and thanks, as always, for reading!
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A well written review. Funnily enough I've had this recorded on Sky+ for a few weeks and haven't got round to it yet. Better make sure I start early, didn't realise it was so long! Gary.
Seresecros 27.09.2008 20:34
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. That is my thought.
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Sep 21st, 2008
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