A movie with flaws - which are greatly exceeded by the merits it has to offer

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2016)

Even if many people and critics denounce The Da Vinci Code as an average mystery-thriller, it is far more than that. For me there is hardly a more interesting premise than to combine real historical events with a compelling story that evolves around those things. Dan Brown manages to delicately explore famous artwork, architecture and sights and weave an interesting, complex and twisted story around them. The plot is basically a treasure-hunt including codes and puzzles that need to be solved in time, and this makes for a thrilling and compelling movie experience, which - if you are willing to get yourself into it - on top of that offers a big amount of knowledge. The thought provoking themes and theories that Dan Brown explores in The Da Vinci Code have even led me to start reading the bible, which makes all the protest from church officials and catholic groups around the world somewhat ridiculous considering this book makes people concern themselves more with religion and its scripture.
Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman did a good job in adapting the novel by cutting the unnecessary stuff out (sometimes the novel goes in pages-long details about historical events) and keeping the right stuff in. While the story is compelling, the villain's plan is maybe a little bit over-complicated and ludicrous. The method of giving the historical background in old-fashioned flashbacks with voice-over was the right choice. It is these flashbacks where you can learn a lot about European religious history. Of course not all presented facts in the novel and the film are true, but if you choose to get yourself into the theories you may experience a fascinating movie with very surprising twists, some stunning visuals, extraordinary beautiful music and some interesting characters.
Director Ron Howard did some great work on The Da Vinci Code, however, he does not manage to deliver a constantly solid film: There are scenes which are emotionally and intellectually involving like the one in Teabing's ballroom explaining Leonardo's Last Supper and the mystery about Mary Magdalene. Here Ron Howard merges the three characters Langdon, Neveu and Teabing together with the TV showing the Last Supper (which almost acts as a fourth character) in a very investing and lucid dynamic interaction which helps to clearly understand the somewhat complex topic without being too dry and fact-laden. Another great scene takes place in the chapel behind Westminster Abbey where Teabing confronts Langdon and Neveu, which features Langdon's reflection about Newton's achievements, shown in another stunning animation. The ending scene however, in which Langdon eventually solves the code and makes his way through the evening streets of Paris to the Louvre, stands out most: the magic of a Parisian evening, the beauty of the Louvre and its Pyramid - greatly captured by Salvatore Totino's cinematography - paired with the impact of the story and your desire for it to be finally solved, Tom Hanks reciting the poem and, above all, Hans Zimmer's wonderful score make for one of the most cinematic beautiful sequences I've ever seen.
On the other hand, there are some scenes that feel a little bit rushed and unconvincing, like the unrealistically fast responds of the people in Langdon's auditorium at the beginning of the film, major parts of Langdon and Fache's conversation in the Louvre, the scene with Silas and Remy in the Temple Church, the Teacher's POV scene with Remy and some of the flashbacks concerning Silas and Sophie Neveu's past, respectively. The subplot concerning bishop Aringarosa, though important for the narrative, is not very interesting either.
Nevertheless, Alfred Molina gives a solid performance as Aringarosa, as does Jürgen Prochnow as Andre Vernet, director of the Swiss Bank. Throughout the film, Etienne Chicot performs really good as the grim police officer Collet, whose authority appears somewhat stronger than in the novel, especially with respect to Capitaine Fache, who is not perfectly portrayed by Jean Reno in my opinion, with his lines sometimes sounding too forced and static. Similarly, Audrey Tautou's acting - while Sophie Neveu is a likable character and has her moments - is not always quite believable. Jean-Yves Berteloot's acting as Teabing's servant Remy is not really impressive as well. In contrast, Tom Hanks is, as usual, very pleasant and convincing; in my opinion he is the best actor working today and I deem him the perfect casting choice for Robert Langdon. While Paul Bettany gives a very dedicated performance as Silas, the best both written and acted character, however, is Sir Leigh Teabing, portrayed by the remarkable Sir Ian McKellen. Every second he is on screen he steals the show and is a pleasure to watch. This refers especially to the ballroom scene in Château Villette and the plane scene where he gives, as I perceive it, one of the best little speeches in movie history, concerning history and him "creating" it now.
Nevertheless, what truly elevates all the scenes and makes some of them so emotionally impacting, is Hans Zimmer's amazing score. On the one hand the themes consist of old-fashioned ecclesiastical appearing choir movements - supplemented by bells - and, on the other hand, of modern fast-paced staccato choir pieces paired with heavy orchestration and synthesizer elements, resembling the thrilling treasure hunt against the clock. The main theme "Chevaliers de Sangreal" develops a single minimalist motive by continuous augmentation into a phenomenal climax. Hans Zimmer uses this sort of relatively simple but all the more effective technique quite frequently, like in Inception and Interstellar. The Da Vinci Code's original score is, I claim, truly Oscar-worthy. The Academy chose to ignore it, the Globes, however, did not.
In conclusion, this is a very special, highly original movie which explores great themes, and it deserves more attention and certainly better ratings. If you let yourself in for it and are not too nit-picky, you may well have a truly rewarding experience with The Da Vinci Code.