Epitomizes the worst of American cinema

Rating: 4/10 (21 May 2006)

Some people may be offended by the subject matter, but for me the real offence in "The da Vinci Code" was the way in which the subject matter was trivialised.
As such, the movie failed to exploit its potential. In the hands of a more suitable director we could have had a movie of dark brooding sinister intrigue - in other words, a movie more in keeping with the themes it was investigating.
Instead, we got a rather pedestrian stroll, with a plot stitched up by joining the dots, the painting by numbers, and, for our edification, the bleeding obvious highlighted and spelled out.
The production remained mindlessly faithful to the book. As such, much dramatic potential was nullified by interminable scenes of exposition. Here, though, all credit to Ian McKellen, who managed this unenviable task admirably.
The theme itself is worthy of serious historical investigation, and as such deserves a movie of a certain dramatic gravitas, from a director capable of delivering such.