Good, entertaining thriller from Ron Howard

Rating: 7/10 (1 October 2011)

Angels & Demons-***-See it- Directed by: Ron Howard, Written by: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman, Dan Brown (Novel), Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Rance Howard, Gino Conforti.
Dan Brown's prequel to his controversial and best selling novel becomes a film as religious symboligist Robert Langdon (Hanks) rushes for the clues to solve a mystery in which a secret society known as The Illuminati has captured four cardinals, killed The Pope, and are threatening to destroy Vatican City with a special anti-matter canister.
This film (like its predecessor) is in no way a form of art, nor does it bring up any new questions or thoughts, but what it does work as is pure entertainment and a guilty pleasure that has us until the end. Director Howard kicks up the pace over his slow-moving Da Vinci Code and catches us by surprise. The twists continue to reveal themselves as the story goes on and refuses to take a rest.
That is part of what makes it such an thrilling experience is the pace and the twists, plus a lot of great actors such as Hanks, McGregor, Skarsgard, and Mueller Stahl thrown in for good measure. The end result is not masterful, but it sure is captivating.