Entertaining Enough But Glad I Got a Concession On The Ticket

Rating: 4/10 (2 June 2006)

Having not read the book I think my review of the film may well be savaged by devoted fans of the best-selling novel although considering I was not particularly impressed by it, perhaps it will coincide with the views of those who were thrilled by the book and feel let down (as is often the case) with movie adaptations.
Audrey Tatou gives a solid performance as the beautiful and doe-eyed Sophie (the only thing I have seen her in is Amelie and she shook the character off quite well) Hanks is OK although not particularly charismatic as Robert Langford.
Though the story is essentially quite silly, difficult to follow and even dull in parts (I think this is why you should read it first) the film is on the whole entertaining enough - the final twist in the tale nicely rounding off what was an interesting spin on, dare I say it, the traditional "story".
Dan Brown cannot be given full marks for originality, however; anyone who has seen "Dogma" will notice a similar twist in the plot line. Like JK Rowling and her Harry Potter books, Brown simply got scribbling at a time when people wanted something a little controversial and juicy to read. Ron Howard cashed in on that just in time, while Code was fresh in people's memories and before Brown's other books got popular.
I'm inclined to agree with other reviewers of this movie about whether or not Catholics should be offended by its content. Don't be. It's just a story created for entertainment value; if anything it gives the Church free publicity!