A masterful tale despite the baggage

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2006)

When I saw "The Da Vinci Code", I concluded that it was a well structured, imaginative and quite inspiring movie. I have read the book numerous times, read its predecessor, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", seen all the documentaries and had a well-rounded knowledge of the subject nature of the movie - before I went to see it. Ron Howard was actually quite masterful in the telling of this tale, as he had to live up to all the hype surrounding the build-up to the movie. He showed that he was willing to acknowledge the historical aspects of the movie, but made an effort to display the message with some use of computer graphics and the like. The medieval scenes that reenacted the search and discovery of the Holy Grail put actuality to my imagination, and Howard also put a good spin on the use of modern technology for the search for the Holy Grail - a mobile phone with the internet - to link the audience with what was happening in the plot of the movie. (It happens differently in the book.) I quite enjoyed Ian McKellen and Tom Hanks in the movie, as they both substantially stood up to their roles and played them to the best of their ability. The limitations ascribed to Audrey Tatou's role were her let-down, however, in the book the character of Sophie is much more substantial and strong as opposed to her mostly-clueless character in the movie. But, she is Audrey Tatou, and she is stunning, so I hope most of the limitations were because the director cut out her most profound moments simply because he couldn't find time. (Of course in the book, there were two more codex's, both of which Sophie solved, which were not in the movie - Langdon solves the only codex in the movie.) Now, lots of people bag this movie because of its controversial nature, historical inaccuracy, blasphemy against the Catholic Church, blah, blah, blah... What ever happened to just enjoying a good thriller? Which is really what the book and movie are all about - but it's good that people are finally sitting up and taking notice about such things! Overall, a very good adaptation of the novel, although some crucial aspects - including the romance between Langdon and Sophie and the revelation of Sophie's brother - were sorely missing from the movie. Women want romance at the end, Mr. Howard!!!!