Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. Ron Howard again directs the film, which is produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and John Calley. The screenplay is by Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp.
When Langdon discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati – the most powerful underground organization in history – he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization‘s most despised enemy: the Catholic Church.
DVD Extras
Writing Angels & Demons Handling Props Angels & Demons: The Full Story This is an Ambigram
Ron Howard is back with "Angels and Demons", the sequel to the much–maligned money–spinner "The Da Vinci Code". So, does this film live up to the hype and controversy? Was it worth annoying the Vatican? Has Tom Hanks‘ hairstyle improved from the "Da Vinci" mullet debacle?
All important questions, and on the whole, the film responds positively (including on Hanks‘ hairstyle). With the Pope recently deceased and the college of cardinals locked in the process of electing a new leader, symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) is called to help the Vatican track down a kidnapper who is holding hostage the four most eminent cardinals.
Claiming to represent the Illuminati, the Enlightenment–era secret society committed to scientific thinking, the kidnapper plans to kill one cardinal every hour. The murders will be revenge for the church‘s brutal attacks against the society 200 years ago and will culminate at midnight with an almighty explosion to destroy the Vatican.
Langdon, with the aid of Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), defy Rome‘s road safety regulations to try and save the day using clues that would be indecipherable to anyone not in possession of an encyclopaedic knowledge of Catholic symbology. Meanwhile, the grief–stricken Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor) is tasked with the job of interim leader of the church before a new Pope is elected.
Visually stunning and relentlessly entertaining, "Angels" is a marked improvement from the first instalment. Hanks comes across as more likeable, while there are enough moments of edge–of–the–seat excitement to give filmgoers value for money, including a glorious sequence near the end involving the sky above St Peter‘s Square transforming into a blazing inferno.
Yet, by trying to pack in as much action as Howard does into this film it often feels like sensory overload – everyone is running, everyone is on edge, everyone‘s getting killed. Inevitably, this leads to some very thinly traced characters and the audience is given little time to get to know them.
Still, this is a film focused on providing entertainment and even the Catholic Church would admit it does that admirably.
Allen Mendonca - 18/05/2009 09:57:19
Ron Howard is back at the top of his game, turning a novel with too many loopholes into a taut, fast–paced, action movie. The maker of such gems as Splash, Cocoon, Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code and Frost/Nixon is a master of the art of commercial story–telling and with this offering he proves he‘s getting better with age.
