If you keep an open mind and watch this film for what it is, you'll enjoy it

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2006)

After a year of waiting for this film's release, I finally got to see it yesterday afternoon, and I have to say that I really did enjoy it! To be honest, I can now understand the negative reviews it has received since the Cannes film awards ceremony - I can't even explain what was wrong with it. I suppose it had something to do with the pacing, and the two main characters did seem a bit one dimensional - but then again, I thought exactly the same when I read the book! Sir Ian McKellan (as Sir Leigh Teabing) and Paul Bettany (as Silas, the albino Opus Dei monk) were the best, by far! They really made the entire film, in my opinion. They were both excellent and nobody could have played those roles any better than they did.
When I had read and listened to reviews of this film, there were lots of comments on the audience laughing at a certain part (I can't remember which) and also people found the line "We need to get to a library." Now, is it just me or does that just mean that people are just more easily amused than ever? I didn't find anything about this film whatsoever. Unless I missed something.
Also, there is no way that this film should have been rated a 12A!! They should have kept it as a 15. For one, it meant that I had to sit in the theatre with a gang of kids no older than 13 giggling and screaming (mainly when Silas kept jumping out on people) at the back, and walking up and down the stairs and in and out of the theatre. Seriously, why would kids that young want to see this film? No offence to them, but I really doubt they even knew what was going on. I suppose them walking in and out of the theatre continuously and giggling and messing around proves that they were bored - or perhaps it was their first time at the cinema without their parents. I don't know. But another reason is the violence. We all know that 12A means that children under 12 can watch the film with a responsible adult. There is no way I would take a child to see this film. The flagellation scene at the beginning is a bit graphic - it could be worse, certainly...but it was enough for me to cringe. So yes, they should have kept it as a 15.
But that's my only complaint :) I walked out of the cinema, not totally blow away by it at all, but me and my friend did have a very in-depth conversation about the whole Jesus/Mary Magdalene theory and I even took her to the book shop so I could show her the portrait of the Last Supper in detail. And even though I thought I wouldn't see it again on the cinema, today, I have to say, I've changed my mind and want to see it again a.s.a.p All I say is, keep an open mind! Just watch it for what it is, and you will enjoy it!