Like an Episode of "Murder, She Wrote" in the Vatican with Tom Hanks

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2009)

Tom Hanks reprises his "Da Vinci Code" role of Dr. Robert Langdon in "Angels & Demons." This time around, the puzzle Dr. Langdon has to solve is the location of the Church of the Illuminati (hidden somewhere in Vatican City), and he better find it fast, since a bomb hidden in the Church is set to go off at midnight, destroying Vatican City.
Mixed into the main plot line is the usual Catholic Church intrigue, a deadly assassin, and Ayelet Zurer (playing a scientist) as the female lead.
At its heart, the story is a "whodunnit" no different than any usual episode of "Murder, She Wrote", except the stakes are bigger, production values are higher, and we get Tom Hanks playing the role of the unflappable mystery-solver.
Even though the movie doesn't push any boundaries creatively and the plot is completely ridiculous, "Angels and Demons" is an exciting, involving movie that will have you on the edge of your seat. The reasons it works are: 1) Ron Howard's kinetic direction; 2) the movie never lets up, there's always something happening; 3) great production values and locations; and 4) Tom Hanks
Because of the pace of the movie, you don't really notice how silly the plot is, and even when you do, you ignore it because the movie is so well made. In other words: yes, it's a silly movie, but relax and enjoy the ride.
If there was an Academy Award for "wrenching an exciting movie out of not-so-great source material" then Ron Howard, Tom Hanks and crew would win it for "Angels & Demons."