I'd never read the book but now I have....

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2006)

When I heard that they were bringing out a movie of the best selling book I decided I would see the movie first as I always enjoy books more and didn't want to be disappointed. It's not easy for a film to grip an audience and I thought Ron Howard did an excellent job with his film. It's quite a long movie and every time I thought it was going to end something else happened.
Ian McKellen was fabulous in this film and stole the majority of the scenes he was in delivering some excellent one-liners along the way. I loved his passion for England and was very pleased to see he hasn't lost his talent. Paul Bettany was also tremendous in this film and it made me see him in a different light. After Wimbledon I wasn't sure of his acting skills but The Da Vinci Code proved him worthy of many of the actors in Hollywood today.
Tom Hanks is one of my all-time favourite actors but I have to say he just didn't seem comfortable in the role of Robert Langdon. He wasn't terrible but he just didn't come up to par with some of his previous roles which I felt was a shame. Audrey Tatou was very good in her role and I couldn't have imagined a better actress for the role.
Overall I felt the film was great, even with Ron Howard's inevitable cheesy scene...'Godspeed' from Tom Hanks. After seeing the film I decided to read the book and I can see why some people prefer the book. However I think it is much harder for a film to grip then it is a book and so for that reason I gave The Da Vinci Code 9/10. I would say anyone should go and see it, just accept it as a film, not as an adaptation of a book.