Too different from the book.

Rating: 5/10 (24 May 2006)

I love movies. I especially love when great movies come from great books. The DaVinci Code happens to be my favorite book. I've been looking forward to the movie version since I first read the novel two years ago, since the book always seemed like an excellent screenplay. I went into the movie theater opening weekend with high expectations and excitement, and left confused and disappointed. I do not want to give any spoilers away, but from the very beginning of the movie, details were already changed. Now, I knew they had to change some things, but these changes were ridiculous! Not only were details cut from the movie, but things that NEVER happened in the book were in the movie. What purpose is that?? Also, I believe that as a result of the amount of controversy that surrounded the novel when it first came out, the creators of the movie decided to minimize the controversial elements. This did not help the movie. In one chapter of The DaVinci Code, Teabing and Langdon are explaining the secret of the Holy Grail to Neveu, both agreeing and on the same side. In the movie, Langdon is arguing Teabing, trying to dissuade Neveu from believing everything Teabing was saying about Mary Magdalene. The movie was lacking in suspense. Also, Langdon's character is too religious in the movie. In the book, his religion does not make up a large part of his life, whereas in the movie, it seems somewhat more important to him. What's most upsetting, however, is the missing "what if?" factor. Yes, the novel is fictional. Yet, after reading the book, you can't help thinking, "What if Dan Brown's right about something? What if maybe .... really happened?" The movie didn't have that at all.
On the other hand, if you have not yet read the book, I would recommend seeing the movie first. The DaVinci Code has excellent actors and a superb director. All and all, it is a good movie with a good plot. However, since The DaVinci Code is my favorite novel, I'm going to be too nit picky and dislike the movie, purely because it is too different from the book.