OK but not great

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2006)

I have to say that my expectation was running high for this film although I felt that it had much more potential than what it achieved. For a director of Ron Howard's calibre I was expecting this to be the best movie of year but I'm afraid to say that it just isn't. As is the case with many films, it is well below par with the book, but it is quite entertaining and will keep you gripped throughout. When reading the book I felt that the character of Robert Langdon would not be played by someone like Tom Hanks. Although I enjoy most movies Tom Hanks stars in, I couldn't really place him in the shoes of Robert Langdon, I thought that someone such as Clive Owen would better suit the role. The one person, however, I instantly knew should play the part he did was Sir Ian Mckellen as Sir Leigh Teabing. Ian McKellen fits the role so well and I have to say he gave a wonderful performance. The book for me was very enjoyable, it is a world-wide best-seller and naturally the film had great expectations. However, whoever made this movie, the critics wouldn't be happy, the book just had so much success that no one could ever do it justice, that is why the critics have given it such poor reviews. Overall, this is quite an enjoyable and entertaining film which has much more potential than shown, it is hardly the best movie of the year, but it is worth watching and although not completely true to the book, a pretty good movie.