Angels and Demons – On DVD now

Here Ron Howard directs the second of Dan Brown’s ‘conspiracy’ books, although this film is released after the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons was actually published before Browns more famous book.

In this film we again are joined by Langdon (Hanks) (thankfully minus his mullet) and he is is racing through a series of clues to halt the destruction of the Vatican City. In his adventure he is aided by Vetra (Zurer) a CERN scientist who is drawn into the drama when the secret antimatter she has been developing is stolen. Throw into this mix a dead pope, a flock of cardinals, clues that are centred on the four elements and a secret society called the Illuminati – typical Dan Brown ingredients really.

So is it any good? Well after the stuttering Da Vinci Code, this is better, it flows more and Howard has done his best to make it more of an action movie rather than a series of monologues lifted from the original book. Still though for me this is a flawed film. Fans of the book will miss the logic behind the leaps of deduction that Langdon makes to solve the clues that are left for him – why is it that bad guys always leave clues? The film therefore also seems very rushed – its like a whistle stop tour of Rome but without being able to look or see anything of the city.

Hanks plays the part sufficiently as Zurer as his accomplice does well in a rather flimsy role – she seems to be more window dressing than being given a real character or personality. For me though is was McGregor who stuck out like a sore thumb, I was confused as to where he was supposed to have come from, his name suggests Irish – and there sometimes was a hint of that in his accent but the rest of the time he slipped into US southern – like his turn in Tim Burtons Big Fish, maybe it was that he was as confused as the rest of us!

More like a made for TV movie with a bigger budget.

Directed by Ron Howard

Cast:

Tom Hanks – Robert Langdon
Ewan McGregor – Camerlengo Patrick McKenna
Avelet Zurer – Vittoria Vetra
Stellan Skarsgard – Commander Richter

For the official website click here