In Ron Howard’s thrilling follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, expert symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows ancient clues on a heart-racing hunt through Rome to find the four Cardinals kidnapped by the deadly secret society, the Illuminati. With the Cardinals’ lives on the line, and the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor) desperate for help, Langdon embarks on a nonstop, action-packed race through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, and the most secretive vault on Earth!If the devil is in the details, there’s a lot of wicked fun in Angels & Demons, the sequel (originally a prequel) to The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard delivers edge-of-your-pew thrills all over the Vatican, the City of Rome, and the deepest, dankest catacombs. Tom Hanks is dependably watchable in his reprised role as Professor Robert Langdon, summoned urgently to Rome on a matter of utmost urgency–which happens to coincide with the death of the Pope, meaning the Vatican is teeming with cardinals and Rome is teeming with the faithful. A religious offshoot group, calling themselves the Illuminati, which protested the Catholic Church’s prosecution of scientists 400 years ago, has resurfaced and is making extreme, and gruesome, terrorist demands. The film zooms around the city, as Langdon follows clues embedded in art, architecture, and the very bone structure of the Vatican. The cast is terrific, including Ewan McGregor, who is memorable as a young protégé of the late pontiff, and who seems to challenge the common wisdom of the Conclave just by being 40 years younger than his fellows when he lectures for church reform. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as a gruff commander of the Swiss Guard, who may or may not have thrown in with the Illuminati. But the real star of the film is Rome, and its High Church gorgeousness, with lush cinematography by Salvatore Totino, who renders the real sky above the Vatican, in a cataclysmic event, with the detail and majesty of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. –A.T. Hurley
Stills from Angels & Demons (click for larger image)
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Buy “Angels & Demons “ For Only $9.51
February 6, 2006
#1
This is a horrible movie. Made by atheists for atheists.
Steer clear if you are a Christian.
February 6, 2006
#2
me and my friends went to the theaters and saw it and we loved it. if you did not like davinci code. than you will not like this. i love dan browns movies. i think they are fun and alot of mystery. but the only promblem is its so danm long. it was 3 hours. yeah but i thought it was great much better than watchmen that movie sucked.
February 6, 2006
#3
The main characters are egotistical, the story is totally implausible, and the script is focused on little more than stomping the Catholic Church. This film consists of a mis-match of boring clues followed by chases and running to the next boring clue.
This is not my favorite movie. I dumped it after 45 minutes.
Rent something else this time.
February 6, 2006
#4
I am an avid reader, and have thus seen many movies that were based on novels. I understand quite well that the story must be changed in order to make the movie work within its time limit. For the first time in my life, however, I was ready to cry when I left the movie theater. I would like to believe that it is probably a perfectly lovely movie if you have not read the book. Unfortunately for me, I felt betrayed that afternoon. It seems that the screenwriters missed the entire point of the book or perhaps failed to read it at all.
The short of the matter is this – don’t buy this book for someone just because you know they read and enjoyed the book. Buy it only for people who have no interest in the book at all.
February 6, 2006
#5
Maybe they should have read the book before they made the movie! The book is great but the movie doesn’t hold true to the book at all and was very disappointing.