Indiana Jones in First Gear

Rating: 6/10 (29 May 2006)

The Da Vinci Code is one of those movies that doesn't reach its potential as a movie because it doesn't realise the depth of character development needed to keep the characters interesting between action sequences. Perhpas Mr Howard should have taken a leaf out of the book of Mr Jackson to get a real view of how it could have been done. Instead, what keeps this movie going is the promise that somehow Langdon would find the secret- a promise that can only take this movie so far.
Tom Hanks is interesting as Robert Langdon but the fact of the matter is that his character is too one-dimensional to really empathise with him. The same goes for Audrey Tatou whose revelation at the end is predictable and doesn't really add to the story as much as it should. The supporting cast however does a good job in keeping the storing interesting- with Ian McKellan stealing the show and acting the two principles off the screen. Alfred Molina is a sinister and driven villain as Bishop Arigarossa and Paul Bettany playing fanatical priest with glazed eyes and frightening devotion are also great, though underused.
The fact of the matter is that this movie drags when these supporting actors are not on the screen despite its interesting premise ( which, by the way, is not new and has been bounced around historical fiction for a while ).
The Da Vinci Code is worth a look if you're interested in history and are prepared to put a hypothetical theory into reality. But don't expect too much as it doesn't move mountains like other religious films, such as Life of Brian.