Similarly flimsy second instalment of the Robert Langdon series

Rating: 4/10 (15 November 2009)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is called from Harvard once again, this time to help investigate a series of murders in Verona that appear to be the work of a maniacally religious group called The Illuminati. He joins forces with Vittoria (Ayelet Zurer) the daughter of one of the victims, who's pretty smart herself and they race around trying to find clues while trying to stay alive themselves.
Dan Brown, like Stephen King, doesn't seem to translate well to film. Or at least, they don't under the direction of Ron Howard. Having failed to make much of an impression with the first and most well known of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code, he's seen fit to return as director for this second inslalment. And the result is something even more flimsy and unremarkable than that.
I didn't actually manage to finish Angels and Demons (the book) to anywhere near the end, but already the downsides of The Da Vinci Code, in the shape of trite dialogue and thin characterization, were in evidence. This time around though there didn't seem to be much of an inspired or intriguing story either, but I'd still be willing to bet it was more fun than this film. While it's still fairly intelligent and complex, it manages to get bogged down in the hoo hah of all the clever symbols and texts, getting the viewer to try and join the dots to everything that's going on while not providing much in the way of genuinely thrilling excitement.
As the star of the first film, Hanks was practically guaranteed to jump on board in the follow up, looking grateful for the nice pay cheque but just going through the motions and delivering nothing like his most dynamic of performances. Even a colourful supporting cast, including Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard and Armin Mueller Stahl can't inject any more life into it. For all it's shortcomings, again it looks like the book's your best bet. **