A Visually Spectacular Thriller - with not a lo of respect for the audience

Rating: 7/10 (29 November 2009)

ANGELS & DEMONS would work well as a silent movie - well, a silent movie with the musical score of Hans Zimmer in the background. Cinematographer Salvatore Totino offers us views of Rome and Vatican City, both from the exterior and from the historically significant interiors, that are as stunning as any on film. The actors look well and seem as involved as the creaky script by David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman have pasted together from Dan Brown's first (in a probably endless line) novel allows about the derring-do of symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks reprising his role from The Da Vinci Code). But while the story is interesting - illuminating the Illuminati's centuries old plight to force the Catholic church to accept scientific reasoning instead of condemning it - and while Ron Howard as director does his best to give us a fast-paced thriller, the dialogue dumbs down the audience by the simplistic, hurriedly discovered answers to the meaning of symbols that drive this story. Dan Brown's novel gave the reader some breathing time to digest the ancient codes and incorporate them into the action: Ron Howard's film condenses the important findings in favor of emphasizing special effects and splendid footage of the inner chambers of St Peter's and the various churches that become destination points for the murders of the 'preferiti' cardinals gathered to elect a new pope after the surprise demise of the current pope.
The cast includes some fine, interesting faces and actors - Ewan McGregor as the recently dead Pope's camerlengo, Stellan Skarsgård as the suspicious Commander Richter, a very beautiful but bland Ayelet Zurer as the sole female scientist Vittoria Vetra who understands the importance of rescuing the 'antimatter' that threatens the end of the church and a good part of the territory around Rome, Armin Mueller- Stahl as the crusty old Cardinal Strauss, Pierfrancesco Favino as the Inspector Olivetti, and the always fascinating character actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the assassin - but Tom Hanks' Robert Langdon rattles off his obsession with ecclesiastic symbology with such speed and nonchalance that the mysteries become almost insignificant to the audience who simply go along with the patter. It is a mad chase of a film, fortunately treating the audience to some wondrous scenery and lighting effects. As a film it is entertaining, but then that was the purpose of the book, too. It just feels like it not as fully realized a mystery as would be possible in different hands.
Grady Harp