A Code with its own Cross to bear.

Rating: 6/10 (24 May 2006)

The Da Vinci Code: The, so far, highest anticipated blockbuster of the year for 2006, or the most, again so far, media hyped movie of the year. Whatever the viewpoint, for what ever reason, The Da Vinci Code turned out to be a nice little thriller, little here being the operative word, regrettably too. A thriller it is, with its beautiful English locations, such as the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, Lincoln Cathedral, which was substituted for Westminster Abbey, London and Burghley House, again in Lincolnshire, England. The European destinations speak volumes here, such as the filming inside the Musée Du Louvre and the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France. These locations give the movie a taste of flamboyance and style. They are used very well, to inject a world of high-octane adventure that only the gifted and elite can acquire.
The cast here are of a pedigree to hold audiences captivated in their own right, with the skills of Messrs Hanks, McKellen and Reno and the French actress Audrey Tautou, who apparently, took the job after the original choice were for Julie Delpy and Kate Beckinsale. In addition, the role that was, eventually, given to Tom Hanks was considered for Bill Paxton, amongst others. This collaboration come together very well, in their own refined and subtle way, they are given a fictitious project to be apart off, they are in a plot of huge consequence and intrigue, the magnitude of the overall conspiracy theory is some what, sadly, eroded and in parts, deflated.
The historical story telling, by using a sense of flashback and a over lapping of the past with the present is interesting, this form of movie making is a procedure that does The Da Vinci Code justice and actually does project the story line to the next phase, giving the movie a true sense of Historical wonder and dread.
Apart from the high level locations and cast, we have a movie that is somewhat over drawn in the writing department, in the interpretation of Dan Browns book, who also acts as Executive Producer on this project too. Has Mr. Akiva Goldsman found this a tad too taxing? This question begs being asked, in the contest of a huge Production, why has The Da Vinci Code gone from being a Thriller Movie to a thrilling movie that does not thrill hardly enough? The script, I feel, has driven The Da Vinci Code's pace, in places, from high-octane to moderate B-Movie status. This is a shame, for who ever was in charge of this department should, again I feel, have looked more closely at reading between the lines, and given it more attention, this, regrettably, could be the weakest link in this movies chain. Alternatively, and fairly, has he merely adapted his skills to the environment that he has been placed in?
Mr. Goldman's other works for writing and screenplay consist of The Client 1994, Silent Fall 1994, Batman Forever 1995, A Time To Kill 1996, Batman & Robin 1997, Lost In Space 1998, also for I, Robert 2004 and the 2005 movie Cinderella Man. He has been nominated for many Awards in his career; he won has the 2002 Academy Award for Best Writing for A Beautiful Mind 2001.
The musical score is also worth a mention, with the work of Mr. Hans Zimmer, who during the early eighties was in the band The Buggles, their hit "Video Killed the Radio Star" became their best seller. He has worked on many, many classics such as My Beautiful Laundrette 1985, The Last Emperor 1987, Rain Man 1988, Thelma and Louise 1991. His vast workload was to include The Lion King 1994, The Rock 1996, Mission Impossible II and Gladiator in 2000. He worked on Black Hawk Down in 2001 and the list is endless. His work on The Da Vinci Code is a fine classical score that highlights the high quality message of this movie, with a combination of drama and suspense that kicks starts each moment into daring adventure.
To conclude: The Da Vinci Code is a good movie, it is a reasonably good thriller, with very stylish locations, cast and modest Director, but it, not at all points, tends to, for me, fall on the flat side, because of the high importance of the overall story line, the delivery of the script has fallen short. This is the Cross that The Da Vinci Code now has to bear. Shame really.