Angels & Demons reviewed
“ Verb: Nerf - When game designers reduce the effectiveness of a game aspect to improve balance in play.”
Using that definition, Dan Brown’s bestselling novel Angels & Demons has definitely been nerfed in its translation into a 2-hour film. Hardcore fans may complain that such an approach dulls the final product, but on the whole, the changes made are intelligent improvements, enhancing the realism of the film by filing down Brown’s more ridiculous characters and situations, and reshaping them into more credible forms. As a result, mystery-thriller Angels & Demons is a vastly superior film to its plodding, pedantic predecessor, The Da Vinci Code.
It immediately helps that the puzzle-solving that is so central to Angels & Demons comes with large stakes attached, as well as a time limit. This isn’t just Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on the run from the law as he was in The Da Vinci Code. Here Langdon is summoned to Rome to the assist the Vatican at its greatest moment of peril.
The pope has just died and the four cardinals tipped as favourites to succeed him have been kidnapped. This act, as well as the planting of an antimatter bomb somewhere within the city-state, point towards the involvement of the Illuminati, a mysterious order intent on destroying the Church. The Illuminati have threatened to kill the cardinals, one every hour starting at 8pm, and then conclude their display of power by blowing up the Vatican at midnight. Considering that over 90% of the Catholic Church’s wealth is invested in the Vatican, its destruction would bankrupt the Church, causing its worldwide collapse.
Angels & Demons starts off quite talky as Langdon educates his companions and the audience about Church history. If you aren’t overly irritated by the “lectures”, many of which are annoyingly obvious to all but the dumbest of viewers, and if you can get over the bullshit science in the opening scenes, you’ve clambered over Angels & Demons' chief hump of mediocrity.
Once Langdon and sultry CERN scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) realise that the cardinals will be murdered at the legendary “Altars of Science” across Rome, the intensity of the film ratchets up considerably. As a breathless race around the city, combining beautiful church locations with graphic murders, Angels & Demons becomes a much more enjoyable movie experience.
Having visited Rome and the Vatican last year I personally had a lot of fun playing “spot the famous location.” This said, much of what you see in Angels & Demons is either hazy CGI-work, or meticulous replica sets. After the furore around The Da Vinci Code, director Ron Howard was refused permission to film inside Rome’s churches, which all belong to the Vatican.
As for acting, Angels & Demons is clearly more about exciting plot and pacing than showboat performances. Almost all of the actors keep their portrayals low-key and naturalistic. This surprisingly even includes Hanks, who plays a downgraded role during the film’s massive climax. Unlike the book, where Langdon is front and centre during proceedings, here he is simply an observer, which is ultimately more believable.
As Vittoria, Ayelet Zurer is fine; nothing more. The character is clearly intelligent and feisty, but Vittoria’s involvement in events, her motivations, and even her love interest status, have also all been significantly reduced by the filmmakers, to the point where she’s no longer very interesting. For the record, she doesn't infuriates the Swiss Guard in the film, as she does in the book, by running around the Vatican dressed like Lara Croft.
A far more intriguing character treatment belongs to the nameless assassin. In the book he was an arrogant, lecherous Arab. In the film he’s a nondescript, surprisingly principled man (Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas ) whose work for various conflicting religious groups has left him indifferent to their causes. Money seems to be his only motivator.
Meanwhile, out of the high profile cast members, Ewan McGregor has probably the most difficult role of the film, as the Pope’s young personal assistant, the Camerlengo. It’s not so much the character he is playing – a lowly priest frequently overruled by his superiors – that is problematic, but rather that he has to make at least two horribly convoluted speeches. McGregor’s Camerlengo doesn’t exude the confidence or charisma of his novel counterpart to make these speeches either inspiring or convincing.
As for controversy in the film, the Catholic Church, and Christians in general, have little to worry about with Angels & Demons. Like the Da Vinci Code there are references to the Church’s shady historical activities but otherwise the Church comes off looking quite good this time around. Although often paralysed by stuffy tradition, its leaders are portrayed as well meaning men fully aware of their flaws as human beings.
The audience I saw Angels & Demons with clearly had a good time, even chuckling at the scattered moments of light humour. There’s not much more you can say about this second Dan Brown adaptation other than as a cerebral cousin to the National Treasure films it’s hardly Movie of the Year material. Angels & Demons is a fun popcorn flick for grown-ups – the closest you’ll get in 2009 so far to the enjoyable action adventure-mystery solving combo offered by the old Indiana Jones films.
Using that definition, Dan Brown’s bestselling novel Angels & Demons has definitely been nerfed in its translation into a 2-hour film. Hardcore fans may complain that such an approach dulls the final product, but on the whole, the changes made are intelligent improvements, enhancing the realism of the film by filing down Brown’s more ridiculous characters and situations, and reshaping them into more credible forms. As a result, mystery-thriller Angels & Demons is a vastly superior film to its plodding, pedantic predecessor, The Da Vinci Code.
It immediately helps that the puzzle-solving that is so central to Angels & Demons comes with large stakes attached, as well as a time limit. This isn’t just Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on the run from the law as he was in The Da Vinci Code. Here Langdon is summoned to Rome to the assist the Vatican at its greatest moment of peril.
The pope has just died and the four cardinals tipped as favourites to succeed him have been kidnapped. This act, as well as the planting of an antimatter bomb somewhere within the city-state, point towards the involvement of the Illuminati, a mysterious order intent on destroying the Church. The Illuminati have threatened to kill the cardinals, one every hour starting at 8pm, and then conclude their display of power by blowing up the Vatican at midnight. Considering that over 90% of the Catholic Church’s wealth is invested in the Vatican, its destruction would bankrupt the Church, causing its worldwide collapse.
Angels & Demons starts off quite talky as Langdon educates his companions and the audience about Church history. If you aren’t overly irritated by the “lectures”, many of which are annoyingly obvious to all but the dumbest of viewers, and if you can get over the bullshit science in the opening scenes, you’ve clambered over Angels & Demons' chief hump of mediocrity.
Once Langdon and sultry CERN scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) realise that the cardinals will be murdered at the legendary “Altars of Science” across Rome, the intensity of the film ratchets up considerably. As a breathless race around the city, combining beautiful church locations with graphic murders, Angels & Demons becomes a much more enjoyable movie experience.
Having visited Rome and the Vatican last year I personally had a lot of fun playing “spot the famous location.” This said, much of what you see in Angels & Demons is either hazy CGI-work, or meticulous replica sets. After the furore around The Da Vinci Code, director Ron Howard was refused permission to film inside Rome’s churches, which all belong to the Vatican.
As for acting, Angels & Demons is clearly more about exciting plot and pacing than showboat performances. Almost all of the actors keep their portrayals low-key and naturalistic. This surprisingly even includes Hanks, who plays a downgraded role during the film’s massive climax. Unlike the book, where Langdon is front and centre during proceedings, here he is simply an observer, which is ultimately more believable.
As Vittoria, Ayelet Zurer is fine; nothing more. The character is clearly intelligent and feisty, but Vittoria’s involvement in events, her motivations, and even her love interest status, have also all been significantly reduced by the filmmakers, to the point where she’s no longer very interesting. For the record, she doesn't infuriates the Swiss Guard in the film, as she does in the book, by running around the Vatican dressed like Lara Croft.
A far more intriguing character treatment belongs to the nameless assassin. In the book he was an arrogant, lecherous Arab. In the film he’s a nondescript, surprisingly principled man (Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas ) whose work for various conflicting religious groups has left him indifferent to their causes. Money seems to be his only motivator.
Meanwhile, out of the high profile cast members, Ewan McGregor has probably the most difficult role of the film, as the Pope’s young personal assistant, the Camerlengo. It’s not so much the character he is playing – a lowly priest frequently overruled by his superiors – that is problematic, but rather that he has to make at least two horribly convoluted speeches. McGregor’s Camerlengo doesn’t exude the confidence or charisma of his novel counterpart to make these speeches either inspiring or convincing.
As for controversy in the film, the Catholic Church, and Christians in general, have little to worry about with Angels & Demons. Like the Da Vinci Code there are references to the Church’s shady historical activities but otherwise the Church comes off looking quite good this time around. Although often paralysed by stuffy tradition, its leaders are portrayed as well meaning men fully aware of their flaws as human beings.
The audience I saw Angels & Demons with clearly had a good time, even chuckling at the scattered moments of light humour. There’s not much more you can say about this second Dan Brown adaptation other than as a cerebral cousin to the National Treasure films it’s hardly Movie of the Year material. Angels & Demons is a fun popcorn flick for grown-ups – the closest you’ll get in 2009 so far to the enjoyable action adventure-mystery solving combo offered by the old Indiana Jones films.
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