Though dubious story, a great adventure movie

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2016)

I love adventure movies and wish they would produce more. An avid adventure gamer(Curse of monkey island, Diskword, Brokensword, Mist, Atlantis, Dreamfall to name a few) I love the delight of solving puzzles, putting together clues, meeting interesting characters and unravelling a great mystery. Of course movies are not interactive in the same way a game is, so we have to believe in the adventure on the screen, the puzzles and clues have to be intelligent and this is all adds to the great mythology and sense of discovery in such movies. Movies that did it well: Indiana Jones and the lost crusades, the Goonies, National treasure are some of the better examples in this genre.
Da Vinci code is going to be joining my small list of great adventure films. The movie keeps you captivated from start to end with a gazillion plot twists and a perpetual sense of mystery. It is irrelevant that the setting is a biblical conspiracy theory, as one should not be looking for any reality in the saga -- it should be treated as an adventure. It also an excellent thriller, with murders, man-hunts and car cases.
Tom Hanks is excellent as Langden a symbolist scholar and you learn some actual real history about symbols, their meanings and significances which has a semblance of authenticity.
Technically a well made production, but I think they could have cut down on the washed out flashbacks. There are far too many flashbacks in the movie and a few are just needless fluff. Action and cinematography are good.
All the religious controversy aside, this is well made and highly entertaining adventure thriller.