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What it’s about:
After the recent death of the Pope, CERN physicist Leonardo Vetra is found murdered in his own secure research facility, the symbol of the secret brotherhood "The Illuminati" branded onto his chest. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to help solve the case, along with Vetra's daughter, Vittoria (Ayelet Zurer). At the same time, the Vatican is convening a papal conclave to select a new pontiff, but an assassin, working for the Illuminati, has kidnapped the four preferred cardinals and threatens to kill each one every hour, on the hour. Clues lead Langdon and his team, including Swiss Guard commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgard), all around the Vatican in a race against time to find the four altars of science and save the Church from certain catastrophe.
What we thought:
As with Harry Potter, The Devil Wears Prada, and so many other bestseller-to-big screen adaptations, things get lost in translation. The first step to enjoying, maybe even appreciating a movie with a primary source as widely read as Angels & Demons, is to accept this. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.
In the highly anticipated movie, Robert Langdon returns to the Vatican and, along with scientist Vittoria Vetra (sultry Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer) rushes around the Vatican City making sense of a series of ancient clues in order to save the lives of the four cardinals in line to the papacy. The suspects are the ancient, pro-science sect the Illuminati. But all is not as it seems. As the Catholic Church is preparing to elect a new pope, the handsome young Camerlengo Patrick (Ewan McGregor), who was raised by the late Pope, finds himself in the position of papal stand-in while the conclave is underway. As if that’s not pressure enough, Langdon and Vetra learn that the Vatican City is hours away from being destroyed by a massive explosion after a cylinder containing anti-matter was stolen from the CERN labs in Geneva by a suspected Illuminati assassin (Nikolaj Lie Kaas).
The Illuminati, Langdon is happy to inform us, were a secret religious cult created by free-thinkers in the 17th century who championed scientific truth and were forced underground by the Church. In the movie, they come to the surface just as the world's attention is focused on the Vatican after the death of the Pope.Tom Hanks is much more comfortable and assured in his role as Robert Langdon than he was in the snooze-fest that was The Da Vinci Code. You'd be forgiven for approaching Angels & Demons with a degree of caution, considering that director Ron Howard somehow conspired to reduce one of the most thrilling page-turners of the 21st century into the most tedious two hours of 2006. Thankfully, Howard has learned from his well-publicised mistakes and simplified the plot, allowing the thrill of the chase and the spectacular ancient Roman architecture to take centre stage.
The aesthetic appeal of Angels & Demons is strong and feels as if it was lifted straight from the pages of the novel. There certainly is plenty to feast your eyes on – from the macabre sight of branded flesh, to the various churches and sculptures on location, to the spectacular action sequences, the Vatican is probably where you'll want to spend your next vacation.
Langdon is no Indiana Jones, that much we know. In fact, he can often come across as an exasperating know-it-all, spewing forth ancient history trivia like it's the latest craze, but the pace and energy of Angels give him a tolerably heroic sheen. Throw in a few genuinely suspenseful scenes and you have all the makings of a particularly highbrow installment of 24, entitled Jack Bauer Makes Time for God.
Expect a few jaw-dropping moments as the movie truly kicks into gear in its third act. What passes as theological rhetoric is kept to a minimum, so those looking for a reason to attack the "sacrilegious" Hollywood machine will be bitterly disappointed. This is the action spectacle we were expecting the first time round. Angels & Demons manages the impossible by making such divisive topics like history, politics and religion seem somewhat sexy.
