I'm Anti Vandalism

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2009)

The novel surpasses the rest of Dan Brown's generic yet clever whodunnits, and has enough thematic weight that make it stand out as a one hit wonder among his meager line-up of books.

I thought the "Hassassin" being turned into a myopic, methodical and 1 dimensional killer instead of the cult fanatic in the novel worked for me and in the end he even reveals his philosophy in the life of causing death to others, and how he might be an instrument of a vengeful God. (Although his supposed cleverness and methodical killer instincts don't jive with the way he loses his life later in the film) - Ron Howard uses the same directorial signature, omnipresent-as-a-subatom cinematography, beautiful (albeit fake) location shots of the Holy See. The best moments where the shoot-out in the altar of "Fire"; and also the apocalyptic explosion in the end I couldn't have visualized how it would translate into film, but it was a very poignant scene.

My only problem is that the revelations in the ending seem too rushed; the polarizing themes of light and darkness; hope and despair (analogous to a story called "Angels and Demons") are not included in the dialogue in the end, and I wonder if non-readers of the novel would comprehend it. I did love the scene when the "Mastermind" of the events takes his life, it was dark, chilling and decisive (although, again - rushed.) There are also some things truncated from the novel that might have benefited the transition from prose to filmic adaptation; if only to balance how greatly the story suffers from excluding the themes in the novel I have repeatedly mentioned.
Just like The Da Vinci Code, the film falls above average in terms of overall execution, and Ron Howard has enough versatility to create beautiful shots, riveting action scenes but ANGELS AND DEMONS is bogged down with some slow scenes that may probably only effective as introspection on a novel's page. The last issue I have is the pretentious operatic motifs by Hans Zimmer within the score; I like the "main Da Vinci Code theme" and some of his subtler, slowly pulsating suspense movements that he does best.
ANGELS AND DEMONS as a movie is very, very watchable - but as early as now, I can say it might also be forgettable.
8/10