A Major Disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2006)

I finished reading the book, ran to my computer, looked up a movie time, and was in the theater 30 minutes after finishing the last page. That's how much I liked the book, and was sure the movie was going to be great, considering the amazing story and impressive cast the director had to work with. I was horribly disappointed, however, with both the acting and the script.
Despite the amazing cast, I found the characters weak. Langdon lacked the intensity, depth, and quirky-handsomeness (where were the tweed jacket and low professorial voice!?) that he had in the book, Sophie's role in discovering and decoding the clues was greatly diminished, and some of Sir Teabing's wittiest lines were removed or replaced. Also, although I love Jean Reno, I did not agree with his casting/performance of "The Bull" (Captain Bezu Fache)--I felt his physical appearance and demeanor were wrong for the part. The only great casting/acting job in the movie is Paul Bettany as Silas.
Additionally, the script veered from the book far more than it needed to, and left a very weak plot that lacked the intensity and cleverness of the book and its characters. The movie rushed through the clues (some of which were completely deleted from the movie) in the first part of the movie, causing the clues to seem all too easy to find and decipher, and then slowed drastically at the end, once all of the action was over. The movie also watered down the more controversial points of the book, which served as its backbone, such as the the histories of the sacred feminine, pagan sex rituals, and Sophie and her grandfather. Most disappointingly, the movie has a completely different ending, for no apparent reason.
I was so frustrated throughout the movie, that had I not been sitting in the far corner of a one-exit theater, I would have left way before it was over.