Wonderful Cinematography and a Powerful Score by Hans Zimmer Add To An Enjoyable and Tense Thriller

Rating: Null/10 (18 November 2006)

Chances are that if you haven't read the book, you will enjoy this film. Chances are that if you have read the book, you might not be as satisfied with the adaptation.
But lets get the summary out of the way.
Symbologist Robert Langdon is on a business trip in Paris when he is called away to the Louvre to aid with a murder investigation. It turns out that he is the primary suspect in the case and (with the aid of a French cryptologist) escapes from police custody. He now must solve the string of riddles and clues spread around the dead body - clues that link the murder to a millennium-old war between two factions over the possession of a priceless treasure, the Holy Grail.
I had read the novel before seeing the film, so nothing was really a twist for me. Needless to say, though, I enjoyed this movie immensely. The tension from the book was very present and created a wonderful atmosphere.
Sadly, though, people love to bash movies - particularly ones such as this. Not surprisingly, the controversy has been stirred mostly from religious persons. I don't really see why, because I felt that the film handled the subject in a very delicate way. There was even talk of delaying the release date before the film was out.
Thankfully, though, that didn't happen.
I am very aware that a lot of people (aside from religious groups) didn't like the film either, and I can't really see why. I read other reviews from this site - and they said why - but I still don't understand. Perhaps I just love the film a lot because I loved the book a lot. It does remain really faithful.
The technical aspects of this movie really shine - particularly the cinematography and score. Salvatore Totino's dark and bleak color scheme really adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the movie. Ron Howard's direction (while people criticize being unoriginal) is very elegant and sweet. But the strongest technical aspect is the score. Hans Zimmer is my favorite composer, and when I heard that he would score this film, I got even more excited. And I wasn't disappointed. The score in this movie is probably the quietest that Zimmer has ever composed, and it works perfectly.
On the subject of the actors, I think that it is a universal opinion that Ian McKellan and Paul Bettany gave the two best performances of the movie, and it's hard to argue. **SPOILER** McKellan's performance as the bad guy is very believable and you really learn to hate him at the end.**SPOILER END** But I think that Paul Bettany's performance was the best. He creates an extremely complex and sympathetic character.
If you're reading this, you might think "Does he dislike anything about the movie?" Well, I suppose that the screenplay wasn't the best. Akiva Goldsman, who wrote A Beautiful Mind, did the best he could with the exposition (and believe me, there was A LOT), but I think that no matter how or who writes it, it couldn't sound like natural conversation. I was surprised how well the actors delivered it though. Tom Hanks seems to give a monologue every five minutes. When he did, though, he kept my attention.
I also think that Audrey Totou's performance wasn't the best in the film. Compared to the other actors, she didn't do very well, but I still believed in her.
Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable thriller. I will certainly but it when it's released on DVD.
9/10