\_o_ (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} palantir) wrote,@ 2009-05-17 05:32:00 |
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Angels & Demons (2009)
Angels & Demons (2009) ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/
Directed by: Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind, Far and Away)
IMDB rating: 7.0/10 3,669 votes
Angels & Demons is based on Dan Brown's book of the same name. My experience with Dan Brown's writing comes from a college literature course, in which we read Brown's book The Da Vinci Code as part of the course's religion theme. While I haven't heard Angels & Demons, it's fairly obvious from the film adaptation that the book follows a similar format to The Da Vinci Code. In fact, the two books share the same protagonist - Robert Langdon.
Robert Langdon is a professor of 'symbology'. There's very little character development into who Robert Langdon is and what drives him, and given the layout of Brown's narratives, it's not really important. Langdon is simply an Indiana Jones figure (The Da Vinci Code actually says he resembles Harrison Ford) in pursuit of some truth regarding some secret religious society. That's the basic plot of both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.
The Da Vinci Code involves the pursuit of The Holy Grail. Angels & Demons is the pursuit of the Illuminati (or, rather, the pursuit to stop them). The plots of both are fast-paced, with Langdon rushing around and staying at each location only long enough to solve the puzzle that tells him which famous church/monument he needs to be at next. Brown covers enough monuments that there are actually tours that retrace the journey in his books. And when I was in the Louvre, the tour guide actually made references to The Da Vinci Code.
If you like Brown's narrative style of rushing to and from historical monuments with plenty of passing historical references all wrapped around a fictitious, secret religious society, Angels & Demons will probably be a worthwhile watch (or read). I found the numerous speeches in the film about harmony between science and religion to be silly. The film's treatment of the church is quite pedestrian. Dan Brown and Ron Howard are no Pasolini. I'm sure a lot of care went into making sure not to offend Catholics; as someone that finds the Catholic Church to be anachronistic, I think they deserve a little more criticism.
Overall: harmless, fast-paced tourist trip around the Vatican and Rome. Despite the historical references, there's really no substance here.
4/10
Angels & Demons (2009) ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/
Directed by: Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind, Far and Away)
IMDB rating: 7.0/10 3,669 votes
Angels & Demons is based on Dan Brown's book of the same name. My experience with Dan Brown's writing comes from a college literature course, in which we read Brown's book The Da Vinci Code as part of the course's religion theme. While I haven't heard Angels & Demons, it's fairly obvious from the film adaptation that the book follows a similar format to The Da Vinci Code. In fact, the two books share the same protagonist - Robert Langdon.
Robert Langdon is a professor of 'symbology'. There's very little character development into who Robert Langdon is and what drives him, and given the layout of Brown's narratives, it's not really important. Langdon is simply an Indiana Jones figure (The Da Vinci Code actually says he resembles Harrison Ford) in pursuit of some truth regarding some secret religious society. That's the basic plot of both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.
The Da Vinci Code involves the pursuit of The Holy Grail. Angels & Demons is the pursuit of the Illuminati (or, rather, the pursuit to stop them). The plots of both are fast-paced, with Langdon rushing around and staying at each location only long enough to solve the puzzle that tells him which famous church/monument he needs to be at next. Brown covers enough monuments that there are actually tours that retrace the journey in his books. And when I was in the Louvre, the tour guide actually made references to The Da Vinci Code.
If you like Brown's narrative style of rushing to and from historical monuments with plenty of passing historical references all wrapped around a fictitious, secret religious society, Angels & Demons will probably be a worthwhile watch (or read). I found the numerous speeches in the film about harmony between science and religion to be silly. The film's treatment of the church is quite pedestrian. Dan Brown and Ron Howard are no Pasolini. I'm sure a lot of care went into making sure not to offend Catholics; as someone that finds the Catholic Church to be anachronistic, I think they deserve a little more criticism.
Overall: harmless, fast-paced tourist trip around the Vatican and Rome. Despite the historical references, there's really no substance here.
4/10
