A Spectacular Film from start to finish, a true thrilling ride.

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2006)

Ron Howard's movie conversion of Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, is a spectacular film from start to finish. In this much hyped picture, Tom Hanks stars as Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology, and alongside him, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist. After the murder of Neveu's grandfather, the curator of the Louvre in Paris, the pair follow his clues to unlock a secret that could change humanity. The pair discover that Mary Magdelene was the wife of Jesus Christ, and bore his child, alongside the revelation that the 'Grandfather' was the head of a secret society that revolves around the sarcophagus' protection. A lot of bad reviews blackened the release of this film, but they were not deserved at all. Hanks is impressively comfortable as Robert Langson, Audrey Tautou is truly emotional as Neveu, and there are some stunning performances in support, including Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Sir Leigh Teabing a charismatic Grail Buff, Alfred Molina, who is the standout as Bishop Aringarosa, Jean Reno, as bad cop Bezu Fache, and Paul Bettany, whose impressive turn as Silas ensures he an actor to look out for. Howard's directing is sublime, Akiva Goldsman has fitted a lot of content into the screenplay, and The Da Vinci Code is definitely worth seeing, not only because it is a truly thrilling ride, but because it is an almost perfect thriller, with a lot of smarts.