The DaVinci decoded

Rating: 8/10 (20 May 2006)

Probably one of the most anticipated book to film adaptations of recent times, this film does live up to expectations.
The plot, in case you aren't familiar with the book, revolves around a Harvard symbology professor by the name of Robert Langdon and a young French cryptologist named Sophie Neveu who go on a kind of a treasure hunt to find the greatest secret in history that could rattle the foundations of modern society. If you have read the novel, I have to say that the film follows it quite faithfully and never really deviates far from the words of Dan Brown.
Tom Hanks may seem like an odd casting choice but he does an excellent job with his role. Convincing and intelligent, he even looks the part well. Audrey Tatou looks simply adorable with that awesome hairstyle of hers. The chemistry between them works well and doesn't go into any unnecessary or cheesy romance. There are also some good supporting roles by Ian McKellen (playing a historian who helps the leads on their quest) and Paul Bettany, the main antagonist. Alfred Molina also shows in the role of a villainous bishop but I felt that they could have given him a little more of a back story and explained his intent.
Ron Howard does a decent job being the director. Along with cinematographer Salvatore Totino they have created some nice dark visuals and used and portrayed the locations (the Louvre in Paris among many other spectacular place) well but never having those overtake the story. There were also some wonderful flashbacks into various points in history while the back story was being explained. At 149 minutes, this film may seem long but that time goes by fast, but fortunately not too fast. My only complaint to Howard is that the film's biggest action scene is like is the case with many films these days, hampered by overly fast editing and unclear camera-work. Hans Zimmer has created a nice score that adds to the atmosphere of the film but never really rises above that.
However what made me very mad was the ending. They could have done something incredible with it (for the sake of your enjoyment of this film, I'm not going to reveal it here) but instead, went a very politically correct route.
Although it doesn't rise to any grand or new heights, this is still a very enjoyable film.
8/10