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Angels & Demons is the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, a movie that was released after great deals of anticipation and failed to live up to it. But it made enough money to justify a sequel and here we are: a movie that has been less hyped and thus has lesser expectations to live up to. The movie starts off on one positive thing: they gave Tom Hanks a better haircut. But simple hairdressing does not automatically give you a good movie.
Angels & Demons is about an attack on the Vatican by The Illuminati. A group which several centuries ago was hunted and killed by the church according to the movie. The attacks take place when the Pope has just died and all the cardinals have gotten together to select a new one. So Robert Langdon gets called in to help solve this mystery and before we know it we’re getting a high speed sightseeing of Rome with an occasional action sequence thrown in from time to time.
The movie is well made and has an interesting story line. I liked the movie and it left me with a better impression than its predecessor did. Of course everything looks beautiful; Rome has been captured beautifully, there is some good acting talent on board and Ron Howard knows how to direct. But the movie is just a good action picture and not a classic. It’s a high end version of the National Treasure movies but nothing more. The movie is more intelligent, the plot more plausible or at least more convincing, but in the end it’s just an action movie.
The movie does try to elevate itself by stuffing it up with all those elaborate scenes in which Tom gets to teach us history lessons while he’s searching for clues that will lead him to captured Preferittis (favorites to be the next pope). There are also some twists here that will surprise most of you partially. Strip away the twists and all you’re left with is a movie about Tom Hanks running through Rome. And as stupid as that much sound it is satisfying, but it’s like Burger King; better than McDonalds but in the end it’s still junk food.
