Put yourself in the reviewer's shoes

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2006)

As a Ron Howard fan, I knew that I would have to see this movie at some point and I do make a point often to read the reviews of viewers beforehand and after. This movie has received a lot of negative reviews, but from what I can decipher, the majority of them come from those who entered the theatre with preconceived notions.
One must remember that almost every movie adapted from a book will always be measured against the book and therefore any negative criticism has to be mitigated by the fact that those having first read the book see the movie with certain prejudices. Whether or not Tom Hanks makes a "good" Robert Langdon is irrelevant to the movie; it is only a personal observation based on the mental image of the character created by the reader while reading the novel. The same is true of the other characters and for what bits of the story included or omitted in the final cut in comparison to the book.
A movie with the pre-publicity that The Da Vinci Code had (based on the legal battle and the subject matter) also will prejudice many against it. There are those, insecure in their faith, who will always speak out vehemently at the slightest questioning of religion, God or our moral code and, as usual, they are best left ignored. There are those also who will take a negative bias simply as a result of the publicity, sort of a that same sense of non-conformity and rebelliousness that leads teenagers to smoke.
My point here is that you, as a viewer, have to ask yourself what it is that you want from a movie such as The Da Vinci Code. Having not read the novel or followed the trial and looking to appreciate a decent thriller without having to question my spiritual and/or religious opinions, The Da Vinci code was a decent movie. Not great, not bad. It certainly isn't the best work that Ron Howard or Tom Hanks has done and it could stand to shed a good 15 to 20 minutes, but that's all it is. It isn't going to shake the foundations of Christianity; it has a plausible plot, some of the escape stunts are a bit far-fetched, some characters are over used or underused, the police are essentially bumbling idiots...hey, it's just standard Hollywood fare, but with somewhat more weighty subject matter. Enjoy it for what it is.