I enjoyed it!

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2006)

It was with great anticipation that I went to see The Da Vinci Code at the premiere last night. The many bad reviews had lowered my expectations somewhat, but I was still looking forward to seeing the film very much.
The opening is really intense, which is extremely important in this kind of film. Pretty soon we get to see Silas punishing himself with the cilice belt and the whip. This scene is extremely powerful and I noticed that some people had a hard time watching it.
Having re-read the book recently I found that although the script follows the book very closely on a general level, very many little things are actually different. Most of these things I think was cleverly done to make the book work on screen. Overall I really enjoyed the film. It is well acted, visually perfect and has a beautiful score. And I always like a great conspiracy theory. There are some problems with the movie, though.
One problem with the film is naturally all the information that has to be conveyed to the audience somehow. Of course all the dialogue slows the film down a bit, but I did not miss the hysterical tempo that could have been if the script had been cut shorter. Actually I think I would have preferred an even longer film if that would have meant more insights into why some people suddenly turned out to be "on the wrong side". These twists and turns are explained in the book, but come more or less as surprises in the film. If I had not known the story I might eventually have expected Sophie to suddenly point a gun at Robert, telling him that she had hired her boyfriend Silas to kill her grandfather and that Robert was the next in line! (Or maybe not, but I hope you get what I mean.) Another thing that I found less convincing is that Robert and Sophie at times do not seem to be in a great hurry, which is a mystery to me.
The puzzle solving is also a bit of a problem. It seems a little too easy and there is really no time for the audience to try to figure it out for themselves. I do, however, not see how this could have been done in any other way in this format.
At the end of the film the tempo slows down pretty dramatically, but this is necessary in order to follow the book's storyline. Having read the book I had no problem with this tempo change and I must say that the very last scenes, accompanied by Hans Zimmer's amazing original score, are just as intense as the beginning of the film.
The best thing about this film is definitely Sir Ian McKellan's interpretation of Teabing. He is extremely funny without ever being silly. I was also impressed with Paul Bettany as Silas, although I did find him "just looking crazy" in a few scenes. I am glad his role was not reduced to just looking crazy and brainwashed all the time, though, and I would have loved to see more of him.
The rest of the cast did a fine job, too. I do not understand, at all, the bad press that Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou have received. I found them totally convincing, but of course their parts are not as spectacular as that of Silas or Teabing.
Some critics have called this film boring. I do not agree at all. It is exciting and very often funny. Some scenes in The Da Vinci Code have been accused of being unintentionally funny, but I was very pleased that the audience last night never laughed at anything that was not supposed to be funny. The applause after the screening was not a thunderous one, but it was pretty widespread and I never hesitated to join in. Although it could have been better, I was not disappointed.