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• Spectacular Movie but Not as phenomenal as The Da Vinci Code posted on 30 Aug 2009

  First off do not compare the two movies because it's useless as both were extremely well written and well directed. Angels & Demons had exactly the kind of content I was hoping to see. Although The Da Vinci Code had more mystery this one had more action sequences. Mixing modern Science with ancient history was a brilliant concept. Tom Hanks needs to be applauded for such an amazing acting. He's the reason both movies did so well. I love watching religious mysteries especially in Vatican City especially when it involves the teachings of Pope. I'm not catholic or anything and yet I find it so interesting. I really hope to continue seeing such movies in future.

• Ignore negative reviews, of critics, and non-critics posted on 30 Aug 2009

  Agreed: poor performance by Vittoria Vetra, and rather quick-solving of all puzzles, or clues. But still, I don't agree that Angels and Demons was one of the "let-downs" of this year. It was good! Perfect symbols or Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Good pace, good performance by Camerlengo and Robert Langdon, good sound effects and music, good sound editing, brilliant cinematography and direction, good editing, a little-hard-to-understand-for-the-layman script but still, how much simpler could it be made? Angels and Demons story follows as such: a pope dies, and somewhere in CERN, a father and daughter create the OPPOSITE or matter, that is ANTIMATTER, which is highly dangerous if it comes in contact with anything that is MATTER, even AIR. So when a Pope in the Vatican has died, and the father who made antimatter is murdered, one thing is obvious: the age-old group of Scientists, Illuminati, have risen again, to take revenge against those who refuted them years ago: the catholic church. And what better time than when a new pope is to be chosen? With the antimatter stolen, Vittoria knows one thing: it can take out the whole of Vatican City if set off. And soon enough, four favorite cardinals are kidnapped, and to be executed one by one every hour. Can the symbologist, Robert Langdon, hand in hand with Vittoria, stop the murders, and stop the ANTIMATTER before it sets off? And who is behind this all? Surely no one can be trusted.This film is one of the highlights of 2009. Go watch it. If you've read the book, you won't love it as much as you'll love it if you HAVEN'T read the book. And yes, for younger, SUBTITLES could be really helpful.I only gave it a solid 7/10 because I've read the book, and of course, the book was MUCH MUCH better.

• Parachuting Priests....er.... posted on 30 Aug 2009

  I quite enjoyed the Da Vinci Code so I should preface this by saying I thought this was most definitely inferior to its predecessor.Ultimately it was a decent thriller, blighted by a few fairly major problems.Firstly the opening 30mins of the film involved far too much chasing round involving mutterings about various symbols. There was a lot of muttering about symbols and uninteresting historical figures. I love History myself but I found this all very uninvolving. Too much focus on a car skidding round with dramatic music and not enough focus on actual context.The film did begin to pick up as time went along, although not by much. Unfortunately I had guessed from the beginning that Ewan Ms character was going to turn out to be the bad guy. It was something about the way he was being acted and a few key things he said. The scene when the guards run in and shoot his would be attackers was fairly implausible and the moment Ewan said 'he is the one' just before the guy got shot kind of confirmed my suspicion that he was indeed the bad guy.But wait...what is this....they find the bomb and then Ewans character grabs the bomb jumps in a helicopter and then parachutes out of it leaving the bomb to explode 10000feet up in the sky. Ey? I was thinking, maybe I'm wrong, maybe he isn't the bad guy...I mean what kind of insane bad guy sets up a plot whereby he has to fly a helicopter into the sky with a bomb on board and parachute out with about 10seconds to go. That would be quite a risk for a bad guy to take, presumably he must have organised the chopper and the parachute...So I am thinking this movie is terrible if these are genuine heroics...a priest parachuting out of a chopper after flying it into the sky...seriously...it was just a little hard to swallow.However it quickly became clear thanks to a recording of the Papal offices that he was indeed the bad guy and just previous to the chopper flying he had branded himself with a red hot metal branding stick and faked the whole assault from the perceived bad guy.So...he was the bad guy behind it all and that helicopter thing was an elaborate plot he had setup to secure his place as the pope afterwards. BIT OF A GAMBLE...you might say...I mean not only the whole plot which was absurd in the first place with the bomb and the chopper etc etc...gambling that the two people who could have revealed his plot would be shot dead when they were discovered near him when he was branded...but to gamble that the conclave would then elect him pope for the whole chopper thing...I mean that is quite a plan...ambitious doesn't really say it does it...Anyhow there are many other implausible aspects to this movie which I won't complain about, It is not that I have a problem with implausibility in film...it is just that this film stretched it to the absolute limit...a lot of things made very little sense at all and the film was quite uninvolving for large periods.My advice is in future they slow the whole thing down, stop with the cars driving fast and the music and the largely uninteresting mutterings, give us some real depth of history and make the story at least mildly plausible.Note to the director - If you find yourself making a movie where a priest who is currently the acting head of the Catholic church parachutes from a Helicopter which has an antimatter bomb in it...just stop...stop what you are doing and rethink the whole thing...you have gone wrong somewhere...

• Time-warp posted on 30 Aug 2009

  Great movie, more intense than The Davinci Code. However, anyone acquainted with street traffic in Rome would tell you it is impossible to travel from The Vatican to the Pantheon to the Piazza Del Populo, back to the Vatican to Santa Maria della Vittoria, to Piazza Navona to the Castel San Angelo in the time alloted by the plot. And that was using a car. As to walking/running, the Passetto connecting the castle with the Vatican is half a mile long, and connects to the Apostolic Palace several floors below the Papal Apartments. They had like 5 minutes to cover the distance. Maybe they were borrowing the teleporter from Star Trek and didn't tell us about it.

• The writers, actors, and producers deserve to have the word "Illuminati" branded on their chest!!! posted on 30 Aug 2009

  I just finished reading the book "Angels and Demons" less than a week ago and I thought it was incredible. In fact one of the best books I have ever read. It had such an awesome story and had a powerful message behind it. However, I was anxious to see what the movie would be like because I was not impressed at all with the Da Vinci code. I thought how could they possible make the movie any worse than the last one, but boy was I wrong! They changed everything in the movie and completely destroyed the plot and meaning behind the book. Also the acting was horrific. None of the characters had any chemistry and never developed unlike the book. I highly recommend reading Angels and Demons, but I beg you not to waste your time and money on this piece of crap!!!

• A die hard fan is please and here's why posted on 30 Aug 2009

  This movie is not like the book, and it doesn't pretend to be. No this film is meant to give you a whole new adventure and perspective of Langdon's first adventure. Angels & Demons was an awesome book it was earth shattering in the way it told Langdon's powerful rise from a world renowned symbologist to literary hero.The source material for this film is not as popular as the one for the DaVinci Code, and that's is the main reason this film wasn't as well received by fans as the first, but this adventure is all the more better and has much of the things that the first film had to leave out as to tell the story. Like twice the suspense, twice the action and twice the fun. All In Angles & Demons delivers what the should have, a fun and action packed adventure.Tom Hanks gives another amazing performance as the hard working and extremely intelligent symbologist that never seems to get a real day off, this film shows us an older and more reverent Robert Langdon, it shows us that Langdon has gone trough much change since his first adventure in Paris and London. We get to see Langdon become a full fledged hero instead of just some teacher trying to clear his name of murder. Now we have Langdon do what he does best, solving a 500 year old riddle and stopping an ancient secret society from destroying the Vatican.This film is not fast paced as the trailer makes it to appear, it's a very mild paced film with some very fast and sweeping moments that you have to come back a second time just to see those parts again. But if you give this film a chance I know it will please you, I know there's no changing the minds some of the die hard fans but for those that have read the novel and are willing to give the film adaption a shot I can promise you, form being a fan of the novel myself that this film will not disappoint, it'll give you what you came for and a little more.Angels & Demons is near- perfect and will have to go down as one of the best films of 2009 and is perfect summer entrainment for all people. And it delivers.

• When the Vatican is fun. posted on 30 Aug 2009

  Langdon is back and this time he's in Vatican, where a secret society, the Illuminatti, are threatening the cardinals and the city. To be brief, Angels and Deamons is better than The DaVinci Code mainly because it's more fast-paced, it's full of disturbing facts and there's more action.The cast isn't anything special, the only two actors who stand out are Ewan McGregor and Tom Hanks, who improved his acting a tad since DaVinci. Ayelet Zurer, who plays Vittoria Vetra, is on the blacklist: her acting is nothing spectacular and her character is useless, mainly because she contributes little to the actual plot.The movie does have its share of weird moments, corny lines and so on, but it's entertaining, a must see for fans of The DaVinci Code.Final Score: 3.5/5 or 7/10

• "Very entertaining blockbuster" posted on 28 Aug 2009

  Before, i began i must say, that English is not my mayor language. I've read all Dan Brown novels. My opinion,he's a very talented writer. I'm also a big fan of Tom Hanks works. I saw the movie yesterday in a Szombathely movie theater. The acting was quite good, the cinematography, and the score to(credit to Hans Zimmer), the screenwriters(David Koepp,and Akiva Goldsman) did a few changes in the plot, but nothing that big.- Spoiler - The twist at the end of the movie stayed the same, as the novel.Yeah Ewan McGregor killed the Pope. The explosion of the bomb, at the end was well made, it was just how i've imagined while reading the book. - End of Spoiler - Overall, it's a great entertaining blockbuster movie, with stunningly good sets(the Vatikan inside was fully made by the filmmakers, because they don't become a permit) and great special effects. It pleases Dan Brown-Ron Howard-and Tom Hanks fans to.P.S.: The movie is a bit better, than the Da-Vinci code.

• It is very interesting posted on 28 Aug 2009

  Hello! I know English a little but I will try to express the opinion. I live in Moscow and I was glad to release of this film. I like to look and read about such plots and stories.. The film has been shown in Russia recently. I did not look yet. I wish to look it very much. But Den Brown's book I have read the some years ago! Though in the book basically the point of view of the author is shown only, its many remarks its her opinion only which is not proved. However, the book is very interesting also I hope a film will be not worse. Da Vinci Code I was disappointed in the film. But this book is remarkable. Though the Catholic church is not happy with an exit of this book and she can be understood. That is described in the book contradicts church laws. Much in the book is own opinion of the author only, but it is useful to esteem, it develops.Very informative and interesting, also it is easily read! I hope to you it will be pleasant! From Russia with love!))

• Much better than Da Vinci Code posted on 28 Aug 2009

  I didn't read the book to see what's difference between the both of them. The difference can be gigantic or not, whatever, if you didn't read the book and watch the movie you will feel your money was well used.I don't understand why people don't like this movie. It has a good story, good actors, good special effects, action, a good theme (religion vs science); everything is good and in the right measure. Moreover, it's a hundred times better than Da Vinci Code.The theme is very deep and when the movie is over you feel like you want to know more about the church, the Illuminati and the Vatican. It makes you want to read the next Dan Brown's book (at least that's my sensation). The only thing that wasn't clear was the relation between Robert and Vittoria, that gets stuck between a romantic couple and two friends from work. This should have been better worked...

• the eyeball part ... posted on 28 Aug 2009

  i find the movie good though it diverted a bit from the book. one part which i found amusing is when Victoria went to the lab and had her retina scanned. there she found drops of blood and when she entered the lab she saw the eyeballs. she was shocked, yes but she looked further and saw her lab partner lying on the floor with his right eye missing.this only means the murderer is inside the lab, took his right eye out and then what? use it to enter the lab again (as there are drops of blood at the scanner?i find this part a little bit strange...

• It all depends on if you read the book…. posted on 28 Aug 2009

  If you did not, this movie is pretty good. Well paced, well- explained with timely exposition, well cast and well plotted. No dangling loose ends. Highly entertaining.The problems are only for the people who did read it****LAST CHANCE TO AVOID SPOILERS******* Ron Howard (One of my favorite Directors) appears to have made way too many arbitrary changes that don't advance the plot. Here they are in the order that they occurred to me while watching the film.1st, CERN does not bring in Langdon, the Vatican does. This cuts out the entire CERN Director 11th Hour Samaritan plot line. The first brand is not actually a brand but a fax copy of the Illuminati ambigram. I can argue this either way due to time constraints but I did not like it. 2nd, Olivetti is no longer the Swiss Guard commander for reasons that make no sense at all. This makes Richter the new Swiss Guard commander with Olivetti in a support role. The film lists this as part of the jurisdiction nightmare that is Vatican City. Since Olivetti dies on schedule, this makes no sense to me. Richter could still have done his part. But without the CERN director Richter takes that role in trying to unmask the Camerlengo with a new character taking Richters place as the second person to die as an Illuminatus in the Papal office.Since the director is no longer in the film this has to be done by someone. Might as well be Richter. 2nd a. It is made clear that the events unfolding are after the DaVinci Code not prior as it was written. Again I am sure that this was to avoid confusion to the people who had not read the book. 3rd, Changing the professional killer from an ASSASSIN from the Middle East with Misogyny issues to a paid professional actually worked for me. Right up until this paid killer actually takes a vehicle, prepared by his employer, which is supposed to have his final payment. No way would that happen. A hired hit man has to worry about his employer as well as the authorities. Someone who did that job for a living would not just walk into that lame trap especially after all the other payments had been EFT to his Isle of Man Account. If I am not mistaken, the Isle of Man is a tax shelter that has very strict banking laws about giving account info to anyone. Cops included. Since this guy is no longer a misogynist that takes away the entire Vittoria has been kidnapped for immoral purpose plot. This takes away Langdon's more personalized reason for wanting to find the Temple of Illumination. Okay that means we never hear about Yoga or that Landon never gets his carnal reward by having hot, wild, intense sex with a Yoga Mistress. For personal reasons, I will say that is something not to be missed if the opportunity is available, BELIEVE ME. Also, no fight between the Assassin and Langdon & Vittoria. I wanted to see it. 4th, Langdon saves the fourth preferiti, Cardinal Baggia. I will refer back to this because it allows a major change. One that serves no purpose that I can tell. 5th, they removed all reference to the Illuminati Diamond. They changed the 6th Brand into a set of crossed keys to indicate the Papacy. Why? This change served no purpose. 6th, as a direct result of the 4th change, we get a condensed version of the Camarlengo's divine revelation of where the Antimatter is. Again I believe this to be a time constraint versus Plot pacing. Could be argued either way. 7th, Langdon does not get into the helicopter with the Camarlengo. This COMPLETELY removes the saved by possible divine intervention sub-plot. One of the things that I truly wanted to see in this film was Langdon's Fall and Survival. This is where the filmmaker lost me. That scene is pivotal to this story. The Camarlengo is SEEN using a parachute rather than the appearance of Divine Intervention which also negatively impacts the story, in my opinion. 8th, Instead of an audio recording of the conversation between the Director and the Camarlengo, we get video from Richter's office. I won't quibble about this except to say I preferred the scene as it was written in the Sistine Chapel. 9th, We don't get to hear the Camarlengo defend his actions to the entire College of Cardinals. Granted we do see him try to justify himself to Richter so I guess the exposition is in there but because of the way it was done we lose the entire Pope as actual parent to the Camarlengo due to artificial Insemination of his former Nun mother sub-plot. AS stated in the book, the use of artificial means meant that the Pope was still celibate and therefore not in violation of church law. I can only assume that this was removed to keep the peace with the Catholics since they don't seem to be very reasonable on this issue. This is just my opinion and is not meant to offend but merely clarify. Reasonable people can disagree without reducing their opponents to evil caricature. A direct result of this revelation to the Camarlengo was his self-immolation. Instead we have a priest who is running from authorities and decides to kill himself. I prefer the book version. 10th, in a direct result of 4th change, Cardinal Baggia is elected Pope instead of the Great Elector cardinal. No reason given. No reason for this change that I can see. Totally arbitrary and without purpose. Mr. Howard and Mr. Hanks had me until the helicopter and from then on I was extremely disappointed in how the story plays out. I am truly sorry that these changes were made and will continue to prefer the book.

• Be Gentle Inside these Walls posted on 28 Aug 2009

  Greetings again from the darkness. Director Ron Howard is back jabbing at the catholics with help from Dan Brown's prequel to DaVinci Code. This time it is a full out action film and Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon shares some attitude with Indiana Jones! Italy in general, and Vatican City in particular, make for stunning scenery for this assault on the senses. The to-scale set of St. Peter's is marvelous, as are the not open to the public areas of catacombs and Vatican archives. Can't help but enjoy seeing the historic sites as Hanks and Ayelet Zurer (Vantage Point) race through the city trying to stop the massacre of four cardinals.Supporting work from Stellan Skarsgard and Armin Mueller-Stahl is particularly effective, though Ewen McGregor is out of place here. Mueller-Stahl's recent history of playing bad guys certainly plays right into the hands of the filmmakers. Don't miss Ron Howard's dad, Rance, as one of the Cardinals. Sadly, brother Clint makes no appearance.My preference of this story would be more intrigue and insight into the secret society of the Illuminati, and I do wish more of the Roman sites could be on display ... but this is terrific popcorn fare and will be enjoyable for most. Don't miss the amazing music playing over the closing credits.

• Enjoyable, incredibly silly and not very clever. The actors and most of the set pieces carry the film when the plot fails posted on 28 Aug 2009

  (There are potential spoilers below) Based on the book that precedes The DaVinci Code this film follows Robert Langdon as he tries to sort out an evil plot that involves the kidnap and murder of four Cardinals and plot to blow up the Vatican via an anti matter explosion. Once more Langdon has scant hours to unlock the secrets of the mystery and save the lives of the people in Rome.I really disliked the Da Vinci Code. I found it slow and dull and very silly. This is a better movie that is fast paced, occasionally exciting and very silly.Okay if you think about the amount of time that they have to unlock the secret of whats going on you'll find its really not possible. Basically all of the events happen in four or five hours and its not enough time. Add to it the fact that what the plot requires is so incredibly laughable that you really can't believe it. I have no doubt that this would work as a book where words can be used to gloss over or redirect the silliness of it all, but as a movie where its stark reality you really can't hide how dumb much of it is. So many times all that needed to happen was for one person to say something obvious then it would all collapse.(I won't even get into the fact that you'd have to be blind not to realize who the bad guy is the minute he walks on screen) That said its a reasonably enjoyable film.I know that may shock you but there is enough to the story that you may very well get hooked into the tale. Certainly most of the set pieces work unto themselves (with the exception of the incident with the cops and the fountain). There are some incredibly beautiful images (the nature of which I dare not reveal lest I reveal plot points). When the film works and you manage not to think about how dumb much of plot is its actually worth a bucket of popcorn. I and my dad both enjoyed the film on a pure entertainment level. That said I didn't need to pay 11 bucks to see this and think either DVD or cable is the way to go.

• Horrible Adaptation of an Amazing Book posted on 28 Aug 2009

  Let me first start off that the book Angels and Demons may be my favorite novel of all time and I recommend it to all. I was also extremely excited to see this film. As to not include spoilers I will not reveal any plot elements but I will say that crucial elements of the book were altered or just completely left out for no apparent reason. There was no emotion at all, and there was no reason to feel for any of the characters, when before I cared and understood the motives of every single character. I feel that book was raped and pillaged to make a movie quickly and profitably. I realize that I went into the movie with a prejudice, and could not just watch the movie without the book being in the back of my mind, but I did try and every time I saw a scene where the film makers could redeem themselves they just continued to make the movie worse. If you have read the book and go to see the movie you will hate it. If I had not, however read the book I would probably rate it as a mediocre film.

• Pathetic, trite, linear in the extreme posted on 28 Aug 2009

  This is a really bad film. It's quite run-of-the-mill executed, but with that budget, those actors and the Hollywood-esquire resources they had, I'm just appalled that these people couldn't come up with anything better. Talk about ruining the collective consciousness as related to film. Now, I wasn't expecting greatness when I saw this, just something that was above par when compared with "The Da Vinci Code", which I think sucked but had something in the albino monk that tried to kill kill kill incessantly. So, if somebody would please graciously hack that film into something with just the albino, I'd be satisfied; the film would no doubt be much more exciting than seeing the main character find evidence and clues in everything he finds; oh yeah, so what about this film? The same. More of the same, only more trite; he shows the token female lead how clever he is, evades the enemy from time to time and makes all of Matt Damon in "Good Will Hunting" look stupid. My girlfriend fell asleep while we watched this; she's the lucky one out of us. Don't see this.

• Dull AND Dumb posted on 26 Aug 2009

  If anyone thinks this mess of a movie and its poor presentation is a quality film then they are just fooling themselves. It's OK to praise a quality director (which he used to be... what the heck happened, Ron?) but at least let his latest effort earn that praise. It doesn't make you a true movie connoisseur to rave about an idiotic movie just because huge names are attached. It makes you a pathetic follower who can't use his or her own head and feelings to decide what is good. Forget the individual award nominations that are based on reputation. This movie is just flat out bad even if it is Ron Howard pointing the camera at Tom Hanks. They need to break up and go their separate ways because their collaboration peaked on Apollo 13 and is now destroyed in flames by Da Vinci and this terrible sequel.Skip the movie and get the same thing from one of those crazy Tom Cruise anti-Christian interviews. Bizarre context mixed with a lot of head scratching. Preposterous movie that never let's you go with any flow or enjoy the movie on any level.

• Good summer movie! posted on 26 Aug 2009

  This was a much better portrayal of the book than it's previous installment. Of course, modifications were made, as it happens from every book-to-film adaptation. The pace of the film is agile and adventurous. It has a few very predictable moments, but in the end it's a fun and good story. Hanks' performance as Robert Langdon is much more relaxed, I suppose he feels more comfortable in the character. The visual effects are unbelievable, it really looks like Vatican City. It makes one wonder if the Vatican Archives are really like. The score is more than outstanding, I propose a standing ovation for Mr. Hans Zimmer!I would recommend you watch this film if you're looking to have a good time and live through an incredible adventure.

• Entertaining, which is all that I ask of it posted on 26 Aug 2009

  Despite all the flaws with Dan Brown's writing style, Angels and Demons was a very entertaining piece of "detective" fiction. Where Da Vinci Code had many scenes of sitting around, sipping tea and discussing art, A&D had a much faster pace to it, which translates significantly better to the screen. The history aspect which DVC capitalized on is surely present, but to a somewhat smaller degree, allowing the plot to stand on its own two feet.Fans of the book should know it stays mostly true. Sure, you can whine about stuff like "omg no guy in wheelchair" or "omg she was his daughter not his partner", but the essence is definitely intact. One twist at the end is left out, but it felt forced anyways in the book, so I believe its best as is.Still has the weaknesses of the book, but is much better than its predecessor as it is less of the "history" lesson (note the quotes). Tom Hanks still isn't perfect, but he's learned some of his lessons from the last one. Overall, if it looks like the kind of thing you'd like, you probably will. If not, you won't. It's a simple little movie like that.

• Absolutely Pathetic posted on 26 Aug 2009

  I went to this movie with great expectation from earlier film Da Vinci Code, Ron Howard and Tom Hanks...but Surely disappointed in first 10 min itself to sit through 2 hrs. On top of this I forced two of my friends into this with me. Book is so exciting and full of thrill that you don't want to leave it until you finish, first 20-30 pages will set the tempo so that u don't want to leave the book, but, movie on other hand is totally boring and slow. There are so many things missing...... Movie is worst, slow, dragging. Book is thrilling and far more enjoyable than this movie. Ron Howard did a very poor job, shouldn't have made this movie at all and wasted his and my time, first with watching movie and secondly forcing me to write this, so that others should not suffer from what I am suffering now.