Nice ride, good to watch, but not as good as the book

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2009)

I just saw Angels and Demons from its first screening yesterday in Manila, and I must say that it's a decent rendition of the book.
Basically, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is asked by the Vatican (or at least the security people handling most of the Vatican except for the Pope's protection which is care of the Swiss guard) to help understand the symbols and other forms of symbolism to help catch an erstwhile thought long-gone group called the Illuminati.
The Illuminati has apparently kidnapped the 4 Preferiti, the top cardinals who are on top of the Vatican cardinals' list to succeed the recently deceased Pope. And not only are they threatening to kill them off every hour, they also stole a device with a deadly bomb-esquire effect and hid it somewhere in the Vatican.
Now there's a race against time as the hours pass, and thousands of people waiting in St. Peter's Square to wait for the announcement of the new Pope.
I actually found this movie lag behind Da Vinci Code in terms of twists, build up to the climax, and action, which is unlike the book in the sense that I prefer the Angels and Demons book compared to The Da Vinci Code because of its action, suspense and twists and superb plot.
Whether this will make millions, the answer is clearly sure, but whether it will become a classic movie thriller/mystery, I'm not certain. At any rate, it's a good movie to watch and simply enjoy, but I don't see myself buying the DVD as soon as it comes out.