Cryptic crypts

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2013)

Dan Brown is a good enough storyteller to sell millions of books.
The Da Vinci Code was a blockbuster of a book and it was only a matter of time that it was turned into a movie.
A controversial plot that visits lots of foreign locations, mystery, thrills, graphic violence and a search for religious artifacts where you are chased by nasty villains.
You can call this a modern Indiana Jones.
Paul Bettany is chilling as a faithful henchman of Opus Dei, aiding Alfred Molina who incidentally was in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
However, Ron Howard's direction is bland despite the the good use of locations.
The screenplay by the hack Akiva Goldsman is uninspired as always, although he or Dan Brown might had got some inspiration from Kevin Smith's Dogma.
Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou lack spark and you end up staring at Hanks hair for all the wrong reasons.
The film is watchable enough but there is too much silliness and some of it is just implausible with cryptic clues that the greatest minds have been unable to solve until Robert Langdon came on the scene.