Angels and Demons Review

Angels and Demons is about a famous Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), who is called to action by the Vatican to help solve a murder and hopefully stop a terrorist act against the church. Ron Howard‘s previous The Da Vinci Code, was killed by needles explanation after explanation, which made you feel as if you were still reading the book instead of watching a film. Although Angels and Demons, fixes many of the problems from the first film, it had one major problem that it could never overcome…

I had a epiphany while watching Angels and Demons. Dan Brown’s books do not make good movies. You would think they would. They’re like a live action puzzle about hot button religious issues and they sell like hot cakes. But, when it comes down to it, they don’t translate well to screen.

Everything was there. The shots were gorgeous, the acting was good, the dialogue was not as dense as it was in The Da Vinci Code, the action sequences were fun, but overall it just wasn’t that interesting. The source material may be good on the page, but on screen it just doesn’t work as well as it should and leaves you feeling like you want more from it.

It’s one of the great mysteries of film, things are never as they seem.

There were also some plot problems to take issue with. (***Spoiler Alert***) From the first time I saw a trailer, I knew Ewan McGregor was the “bad guy.” They add to this give you every single, hint, nudge, and wink along the way. This wouldn’t be such a problem if his character wasn’t such a weak bad guy. He’s not the bad guy who is pretending to be good to do something evil, he’s just a guy doing what he thinks is right. I wish they would have made him an Illuminati member, at least then we would have had a motive and furthered the mystery. But, he was just a Priest, trying to do what every other Priest was trying to do, get power. I mean what Priest hasn’t lied, cheated, manipulated, or killed in order to make sure that the right principles (his principles) are upheld?

The film does however have a few amazing lines. My favorite of which is…

This film does have it’s moment and Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor both do a great job with their characters. So my suggestion, see the film at your own risk, and don’t complain to me if you feel less than satisfied.

The film will be released in theaters nationwide on May 15th. Check out the trailer below…