Better the second time.

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2006)

Saw this movie again yesterday and decided to simply sit and enjoy the movie without the critiquing and comparing it to the book. It was more powerful to me after the second screening and my emotions were more moved this time as well. All I can say is that Dan Brown is the literary version of the Wachowski brothers. His story hits me like the Matrix did.
Below is my review from the first time I saw the movie.
This movie is a niche movie. It is a GREAT movie for those who 1) have read the book and 2) are big fans of the codex nature of the book or 3) a big fan of the opinions found in the book. . If you have not read the book the movie will be a confusing 2 ½ hours of your life.seriously. You'll have to read the book just to make sense of the movie. The movie does not do well independent of reading the book. If you have read the book and what you enjoyed most was the fast pace action of the book the movie will bore you. BUT if you enjoyed the many religious explanations or following the clues to solving the code then this movie is for you. It's an intellectual movie. It's a movie that ponders and explores alternative Christianity. This is a movie that lays out in front of you all these alternative ideas of Jesus with references you may or may not agree with. It will make you think. Yet, it does have some action in the movie.
Acting: Mostly very good. Silas was too monstrous for me. He walked with a limp like some hideous monster. The way he acted reminded me of Frankenstein. I always seemed to expect him to say teacher "teachhhhhhhherrrrrrrr". My take on Silas from the book was a smart street wise man who found the church in Opus Dei. The movie version of Silas didn't fit. Tom Hanks was good and he got better as the movie moved along.
If you understand French that will help you 100% to enjoy this movie better. This movie had subtitles because when the scenes were in France the French characters spoke French. And that was the case for the first hour of the movie. It's authentic but if you can't understand French those subtitles were a bit cumbersome. This movie should be a hit in France.
The movie deviated from the book in a few areas and that made the movie a little more enjoyable because it made the movie less predictable. If you read the book then what happens at Roslin chapel in the movie is not in the book. What happened at Newton's tomb is not how it happened in the book either. Also how Langdon determines who is A. Pope in the book is NOT how it is done in the movie. So this movie took some liberties.
Scenes: Wonderful. The scenes are the reason I'll see this movie twice. It takes you inside all those fascinating places found in the book. You see Newton's tomb which is amazing. You visit the Templar church, Roslin chapel, and the Louvre. The scene of the sex rite was tastefully done but if you didn't read the book the movie does not explain what it was. Overall it's a great movie for the intellectual Da Vinci Code fan.