|Spoilers| Not as polished as The Da Vinci Code, but it's OK.

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2010)

Angels&Demons is a film I was very much, half and half on. It looks spectacular ,locations are absolutely beautiful ,but it's just lacking too much substance. I will be the 1st one to admit that The Da Vinci Code, is a bit slow paced in scenes. And I noticed how they tried to to make the pace a lot better this time around, only it left a lot more plot holes, as a result. I have not read any of the Three Novels ,so It's not really right for me to criticize. I am a big fan of Ewan Mcgregor's, but he seems to be heavily miscast though, as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, he just seemed off. Ron Howard has abandoned the low key suspense, into a more thriller orientated film. Gone, is the know it all Tom Hanks. Instead we get Tom Hanks in "smart" Action hero mode, it just didn't seem right. I didn't exactly care for the big twist at the end, either. The film spent so much time, making Camerlengo to be the good guy, and the hero at the end, and well to be perfectly blunt, it left me feeling cold. The film's action at the end, is without a doubt a sight to behold. Never have I seen an explosion like that, leave such a jolt while I've been watching a film. Angels&Demons is decent entertainment to be sure, but it just didn't engage me like The Da Vinci Code did.
Performances. Tom Hanks is solid ,but unspectacular here. His portrayal of Robert Langondon, Doesen't have the depth that it did in the original, but he still managed to produce plenty of charisma. He's somewhat in Action hero mode here. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it kinda seemed out of place. Ewan McGregor is miscast as Camerlengo. His accent was really odd, and he just seemed clueless to the whole shtick. Ayelet Zurer is a poor woman's Tatou. She Doesen't have the charisma that Tatou has ,and ended up giving an impression, more then anything else. Stellan Skarsgård is excellent as Richter. The man is full of intensity and unpredictability, I enjoyed his performance.
Bottom Line. Angels&Demons is an OK film, that I personally didn't find to be anywhere near as engaging as The Da Vinci Code. The Da Vinci Code was far from a masterpiece ,but it produced more suspense and a more engaging storyline. Angels&Demons falls flat for the most part. Still there is some decent stuff here, to make this a decent rental, but not anything more than that.
6/10