An insult to the intellect and nothing more then a powerpoint slide presentation of the book.

Rating: 5/10 (11 June 2006)

The Da Vinci Code is a missed opportunity, it has a fine cast, a potential good plot, great locations, but it is really not more then a moving powerpoint presentation of the main episodes from the book.
The director, Ron Howard, should be sent to a permanent vacation and should only concern himself with making slide presentations of a book, but never ever be allowed to make a movie again. The guy is an insult to the intellect.
For instance, there is a scene where the main characters are fleeing from France to England. They are waited upon by the police in England and face the problem of escaping from the plane. The plane has landed, Sir Teabing and his driver steps out of the plane, but Langdon, Neveu and Silas are not there. Later, when Sir Teabing drives away, they happened to be hidden in the back of the car. So far so good. However, and this is really insulting of that Ron Howard, then a flashback occurs. In this flashback it is explained how they got away. You see the plane landing, while the plane taxis, the door opens, Langdon and so jump out, run to the car and hide there. A whole stupid and intellect insulting scene during a minute or so. Really, they should fire that Ron Howard!
Other example. The film is shot on location, in the Louvre! An excellent opportunity to provide some nice shots and close ups of some art and the environment. But, nothing of that. Only the absolute bare essentials are brought into picture with respect to the art and the Louvre architecture. But when Langdon arrives at the Swiss bank to obtain the secret box, there is a scene where the access code is tried. This scene is meant to build up tension, intended to be in awe whether the key is correct or not. They punch in the number and a whole freaking minute is wasted with a close up on an ugly green, semi-futuristic display showing the punched in key and displaying a message that it is accepted. A whole minute wasted with an ugly way to build in tension, while all that beautiful art in the Louvre didn't get one minute of extra time.
Good, my conclusion. If you haven't read the book, it is a nice youth thriller. If the reli-conspiracy genre fits you, you might appreciate it even more. However, if you have read the book, you come to the conclusion that it has nothing extra to offer over the book. It follows the story line like a slave, and adds nothing to it, doesn't take advantage of the fact that is a movie, not a powerpoint slide. Furthermore, the atmosphere in the movie doesn't come out, like it does in the book. The movie doesn't give you that reli conspiracy feeling, like it should. Finally, there is no chemistry at all between the two main characters, Sophie and Robert, despite the fact that Tom Hanks is playing Robert Langdon. Clearly you cannot blame Tom Hanks. So please, do not see this movie, and boycott that amateur of a Ron Howard, that isn't able to mix all the fine ingredients in something that tastes good.