Totally Over Criticized Movie

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2006)

I am a great fan of the book but wasn't able to see the movie straight away. Although I was swamped with negative comments and advice such as "I heard it was really bad, don't bother" I decided to judge for myself what the movie was really like.
First off- the Da Vinci Code has its weaknesses just like any other movie. But it also has its strengths. What the problem is that with such a popular and publicized movie is that there is more people reviewing and eventually criticizing it, and the worse the movie is made to appear. This is the case with The Da Vinci Code.
Its strengths. The casting, I thought, was brilliant; there couldn't have been a better ensemble of actors and actresses. Ian McKellan and Paul Bettany are the obvious ones, but Audrey Tatou and Jeno Reno did a fine job too. Tom Hanks did an okay job- especially during Langdon's claustrophobic collapses.
Which brings me to another-enjoyable part of the movie- the flashbacks. I thought they executed very well and, contrary too some people's opinions, not boring at all. I thought it was really smart of the screenwriters to include the reason for Langdon's claustrophobic fears- him falling down a well when he was young- which was covered in Dan Brown's other book "Angels and Demons"
But the obvious weakness in this movie is its screenplay, especially towards the end. I did not like how Sophie's brother was left out, how Jacques Sauniere was not 'really' Sophie's Grandfather, how the Priory actually 'visited' Sophie and how Bishop Aringarosa was made out to be evil. I thought the Roslin Chapel scenes were rather corny, weak and tedious..."You are the last descendant of Jesus Christ!" Hahaha.
But apart from that, a pretty good movie -if you don't get too influenced by the critics- and I recommend it to all.