Better Than Davinci but strays too much from the Book

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2009)

First off, Angels & Demons is my favorite all time book. So obviously I have been eagerly waiting for this movie. I never wake up early but I did so today just to see the movie early this morning. So now for the critique: The story line doesn't quite follow the book, which was disappointing. However, I understand the changes due to time constraints. If they followed the book to a tee, it would be at least a 4 hour movie. So I accepted that. Angels & Demons was very face paced (except for the beginning which kind of dragged). The beginning is where Ron Howard decided to turn this into a Sequel instead of a Prequel...this was done by an allusion to Langdon's previous trouble with the Church, which is an obvious reference to The Davinci Code. The movie was a fun movie, but don't expect too much, except for the fact that Hank's reprisal of Robert Langdon isn't as stale and stiff as he was in the Davinci Code. Further disappointments were: 1) the casting of the Hassasin was way off. I always picture him as a stocky dark skinned man who's only goal was to murder and inflict pain on anyone who stands in his way. In the movie, he is a tall, skinny white guy, who in the end, has an almost "sensitive" side when he is confronted by Langdon and Vittoria. 2) Vittoria's father was not used as a character. Instead, they used a "co-worker" and they scenes in Cern definitely varied from the book. and lastly...The Final Brand was not the one used in the book. I thought the Illuminati diamond was one of the coolest parts of the book, but in the movie it was totally different, not even an ambigram!!! All in all though it was enjoyable. Don't take it too seriously, just kick back and enjoy the action and forget about the book. I do recommend people to read the book, because it is suspenseful and a fast read. 7 out of 10 stars!