Good puzzle-solving mystery type movie...

Rating: 6/10 (26 November 2010)

1st watched 11/23/2010 – 6 out of 10 (Dir-Ron Howard) Good puzzle-solving mystery type movie for about ¾ of the film with a confusing ending. The ending was convoluted but the rest of the movie and the search was good enough to make up for this flaw. This movie is a sequel to the Ron Howard/Tom Hanks original Catholicism thriller called "The Davinci Code" with the same author penning the book, Dan Brown. The movie does a great job with pacing and keeping the viewer interested and that's why I recommend the film. The Hanks' character is slightly more agitated and perturbed than in the original but keeps those feeling at bay long enough to care for people in general and help stop the murders of four potential new pope's. The story starts with the current pope dying and the electee's being kidnapped by an anti-catholic group called the Illuminati. Hanks' character is called in to help the church find them and stop their extermination. A side character is an anti-matter expert and helps find a bomb in the Vatican that could potentially blow up the region. Another side character, played by Ewan McGregor was the pope's assistant and the filmmakers play a juggling act with him, as far as how the viewer's perceive him. Other than this, no side stories are introduced and the pacing is quick which helps the movie. Overall, this was a good sequel(in the vein of the National Treasure movies) that was better than the original – in my opinion.