One of the most entertaining films of 2006

Rating: 9/10 (22 February 2007)

As theology goes, I find many of the religious zealots who overreact to anything and everything that says something slightly disparaging about what they believe in, to be people of extremely questionable character. Think of Brittany Spears with her head shaved and you get a picture of what some of the loonies are like when movies of this ilk are released. The same contingent lost their minds when Kevin Smith did Dogma. I will never understand this mindset as this film is fiction, most of it anyway. But when you protest and march and try to shut films down because they tell a different side to what you believe in, you show more of your insecurities than your conviction.
I preface the review with this little digression because I will never understand how a film can evoke so much emotion when the book was released under the fictional section at your local Chapters. I didn't get the memo that said it was non fiction. Now, do I believe that much of what the book subscribes to could be true? Absolutely! And at the very least, it is an alternate to what the Bible tells you. Kind of like watching Oliver Stone's JFK. I'm sure not all of it is true, but it is certainly a substitute to the Warren Commission and what they reported.
Ron Howard's The DaVinci Code is quite faithful to Dan Brown's novel. It is not quite as frenetic as the book, and not quite as in depth, but it does a fairly adequate job of retelling the story for a world wide audience. As the story goes, Leonardo DaVinci ostensibly has a secret that is revealed cryptically in his paintings. It is an age old secret that is guarded by a very select few. It is a secret so shocking and so nefarious that it could change the way people see religion, the church and all that it encompasses. This is a secret that has been guarded for centuries by groups like the Masons, and presumably the Illuminati, which is rumoured to include powerful names like Newton, Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The story goes all the way back to the 11th century when it is told that a massive treasure was discovered by a village priest who kept it secret enough and then suddenly fell into power. Many men lost their lives trying to protect the treasure. Now what this treasure is, no one really knows. But it subscribes to the theory that there is a secret society that controls the banks, finance, governments and every other powerful faction in the world. If this secret were to get out, it could devastate the balance of world power.
This is where our story begins. Tom Hanks plays Dr. Rober Langdon who is in France giving a lecture when he is picked up by the police so they can use his expertise in understanding a recent murder that took place in a museum. When he arrives, he sees that it is his friend Jacques Sauniere, who is a world renowned expert on the Holy Grail. Initially Langdon thinks he is there to provide any information he can to help out. But he is actually the prime suspect in the murder. When he eventually meets Saunierre's granddaughter, Sophie Neveu, they embark on an adventure to clear Langdon of the charges that he is innocent of, and along the way we discover names like The Priory of the Sion, the Merovingian (remember the name from the Matrix Relaoded) and the Last Supper. All of these names are connected somehow and once it is all revealed, it is one of the most interesting twists in any film. Since most of us have read the book, the twist is no longer shocking, but it does rank up there with the Sixth Sense for pure shock value.
Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have created a fine film, in spite of what some have said. It moves at a breakneck pace, is blessed with likable actors like Hanks and Ian McKellen and Amelie's Audrey Tautou, and if you like religious obscurities and nebulous mythology, then this film should please you. If, however, you are a zealot who marches against freedom of expression, lay down your 5 bucks at the video store and rent it. When no one is around to see that you are actually enjoying a piece of fiction, you might even crack a smile. And there's nothing wrong with that.
The DaVinci Code is a well made film and one of the best of 2006. It is certainly one of the most entertaining of last year. And if you are interested to see where Brown got some of his ideas, buy the book the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, the 1980's best seller that spawned the controversy.
9/10