A critique of the book vs. the film lacked delivery and effectiveness

Rating: 5/10 (16 May 2009)

This is a critique not a synopsis. I'm a huge fan of the books and of course I will be critical of the delivery on film, but this movie made the book seem bad. Which is not the case, the book is superb and delivered badly on film.
I've read both Dan Brown's books Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code a number of years ago. Upon reading both books, I remember thinking Angels&Demons was much better suited for the big screen before Da Vinci Code. The theatricals were all built into the story... but anyways, I digress...
The book The Da Vinci Code is very very good. It is intelligent enough to form questions, action packed to keep moving, filled with crime, mystery, international intrigue taking place around the famous landmarks and locations around Europe. The story involves a colorful array of characters and is in fact set as an International thriller. The book inquires and stimulates the mind and spirit as the reader follows Robert Langdon's quest for truth. This is really the universal tender that makes the book so good.
The film, directed by Ron Howard. Starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon follows the book chapter by chapter, step by step in its execution. To those who read the book, the movie is not bad. Unfortunately, even liking the book, the film becomes tedious and confusing. I found it annoying that they felt they had to over intellectualize the significance of every symbol and pattern in the film. The film is too politically correct when the book was not and challenged what is known as the truth and not a story created by the powers that be.
The film had plenty of funding, plenty of time and some of the most talented to make a really good book into an really good movie but what we got was overly delivered and had little significance. That's my one criticism, it's the one biggest complaint that viewers had who never read the book. They had no idea what was going on and was even more confused at the end. I guess to say in a nice way, the book was so good, it made the film didn't seem as good. But that is not the case with the Angels&Demons.