A decent escape movie with controversial topics

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2009)

The Da Vinci code is a thriller directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou in the lead parts. Most of you also know that the novel of the same name that it is based on, caused major controversies partly because it doesn't tell history of Christianity from the common winners' point of view.
Instead, Both the book and movie dwell into the mysteries of the lost forms of Christianity and tell a largely fictional version of their legacy through fictional characters and fictional events taking places in non-fictional locations in the 21st century Europe. There are those fanatics who want to dig up the almost forgotten heretic 'facts', those fanatics who want to stop them, and of course the main characters symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) and cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Tautou), who have to escape the inevitable mess that the fanatics create. During their journey they team up with enthusiastic Grail seeker Sir Leigh Teabing (played by Sir Ian McKellen) who offers his insights and resources to keep the main characters following the mysterious and dangerous path to truth.
The book was a best-seller for a good reason. It gives the reader almost constant suspense as the mysteries stack up and events unfold. Though the book is real page turner, it is also so long that people have lots of the time to reflect upon what they read during the breaks between reading.
The movie stays very close to the source material written by Dan Brown, both in good and bad.
It was a very hard task to squeeze the book, with it's long and detailed discussions, into a two and a half hour long movie. As much of the thought-provoking pondering gets cut out, the movie turns into almost continuous escape, which is not ideal, because after all, the original story is at least as much about discovery as it is about running and hiding.
The few calm sequences amidst the storm are mostly rushed and too far between, which is why the movie ends up being abrupt and undramatic when the characters discuss of the background events. This is very unfortunate because the background story is what made the book popular in the first place. Most of the action and drama both in the book and the movie is not very interesting, although Ron Howard does succeed well in some sequences that zoom in on the fears and pains of characters or zoom out to show magnificent locations or historical events. But mostly this story is ran through.
The acting is a mixed bag. Credit must be given to Sir Ian McKellen who succeeds in giving his enthusiastic character Leigh Teabing depth and entertaining the viewer with his strong, theatrical performance. Tom Hanks does a nice job as witty professor Robert Langdon, that is, nice relative to his other performances. The french actress Audrey Tautou has a bit too tough a task. The character Sophie Neveu she plays is so perfect that she's dull. She is attractive, intelligent, tough and sweet all at the same time, basically a flawless person. Considering the task, Tautou pulls off a proper performance, although her English isn't very strong. The supporting cast is surprisingly strong and their characters interesting personalities.
The Da Vinci Code is not only cinematically well-executed and entertaining, but also thought-provoking, although not as much as the book it is based on is. The main flaws of the film have to do with the undramatic way the background story is told, the rushing through events, and the uninteresting main characters. Overall, Da Vinci Code is a decent thriller that deserves seven points out of ten.