Despite generating far less hype than it’s predecessor ‘Angels & Demons’ is actually a far superior to ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and shows that when given enough time Director, Ron Howard can create a wonderful film based on Dan Brown’s work.
Despite the novel ‘Angels And Demons’ being set before ‘The Da Vinci Code’ the film actually takes place after the initial story and this time finds Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) summoned to Vatican City by Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor) who has proxy-control of the Catholic Church after the death of the current Pope. Once at the Vatican McKenna tells Langdon that the Vatican is under a terrorist threat from an old enemy… The Illuminati. Four Cardinals who have been selected as contenders to be the new Pope have been kidnapped and are being held by The Illuminati who have also stolen ‘anti-matter’ created by scientist, Vittoria Vetra’s (Ayelet Zurer) latest experiment. In the wrong hands this has become a bomb that could explode destroying the Vatican and most of Rome. With the help of the untrusting Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgard), Inspector Olivetti (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Chartrand (Thure Lindhardt) Langdon and Vetra must solve a riddle created four hundred years earlier to prevent the bomb going off. All this while an assassin (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) constantly puts their lives at risk.
My biggest criticism of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was that the end result suffered from the fact that the production of the film was rushed in order to release it while the novel’s popularity was still at its peak. Luckily this isn’t the case with ‘Angels & Demons’. The experience screen writing team of David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman (who between them have written some of the great blockbusters of our time) have managed to turn Dan Brown’s novel into a smart thriller that does actually keep the audience guessing and at times on the edge of their seats. It is also obvious that Ron Howard has had more time to think with this film as he once again shows his talent as a Director with some great shots that enhance the suspense and manages to bring such beauty to the film that means you can’t guess for one second that most of the Vatican City sets have had to be manufactured.
Howard also shows his expertise with some wonderful casting decisions. Taking chances on actors like Ayelet Zurer and Thure Lindhardt instead of casting ‘big names’ in these roles was a risky decision that pays off brilliantly, while he also manages to bring out the best in Hanks and McGregor. McGregor puts in one of the best performances of his career and hopefully this role will open him to a whole new audience.
‘Angels And Demons’ is a smart thriller that despite a few ‘James Bond-how-could-you-possibly-manage-to-do-that?’ moments works well. It leaves you constantly guessing (and more importantly actually caring) what happens next, is well written and beautifully captured. Easily better than ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels & Demons’ is well worth forking over $15 to see.
Year: 2010
Director: Ron Howard
Stars: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Thure Lindhardt, Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Classification: M
Runtime: 138 mins
Rating: 