Movie: 3/5 stars
Even if my mom hadn’t told me who the villain was in the first five minutes and even if I had re-read the book immediately before going to see the movie, I still would have been entertained by Angels and Demons. The twists and turns in the plot were an exciting romp through, arguably, the most historic city in the entire world, Rome. The exciting non-stop shots of Rome left me in such a state of wanderlust that I begged my parents to take me with them on their romantic getaway to Italy the week after. That being said, other than the stunning visuals Rome provides including the churches and Vatican City, the other aspects of the movie were left wanting, including the lackluster performances of some of the main characters. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon redeemed himself with a much better haircut, personifying the original disgust of Hanks’ laughable coif in The DaVinci Code’s, but other than that, I was still not moved by his performance. If I were to just critique the movie and not bring the book into play, I would say that Langdon’s character lacks development. The most exciting person in the movie was the revealed “bad-guy,” Assassin. The glasses-wearing, all-around nerdy-looking, cardinal-killing bad guy proves to be pretty bad-ass, even though his appearance wouldn’t give him away. I enjoy the fact that the bad guy [and SPOILER – other bad guy] doesn’t appear to be the villain which definitely emphasizes the twist in the plot that had many, and probably me as well if my mom hadn’t blurted out who was the mastermind behind the grand Illuminati plot to decimate Vatican City, sighing in relief to finally know who the Assassin’s boss was. Thinking of the movie as just a movie and not an adaptation of a novel, I would give this one 3 stars out of 5. While watching it, I was entertained and transported to a different time and place, but the actual performances weren’t anything to write home to mom about.
Book: 2.5/5 stars
Dan Brown’s historical fantasy is definitely meant to be a page turner. Too bad the writing style isn’t taken into account. Again, like the movie, the book is also weak in certain areas. Brown’s knowledge (I am not going to refute him in any way because I claim NO knowledge) of the secret cult of the Illuminati is extremely impressive and the way he weaves historical fact into the events in the plot is mind-blowing, however, the main character doesn’t develop. This tale was purely meant to be about the plot and Vittoria, Langdon’s main hottie, is the lone character who actually develops. From losing her father to accepting revenge, then ultimately, Brown denying her revenge creates a many-faceted personality and made her the most intriguing character in the novel. Brown’s descriptions of Rome were not as strong as seeing the actual city in the movie. Obviously, it was much harder to visualize the events of the book while not being able to see the city and for a reader who had never been to Rome or who doesn’t know what obscure churches Brown references creates a strange disconnect that hinders a reading of the novel. The movie’s visuals were stunning and a nice solution to the book’s shortcomings that I enjoyed whole-heartedly. Like the Angels and Demons movie versus the move version of The DaVinci Code, I enjoyed the book Angels and Demons more than I liked the book The DaVinci Code. Other critics have said the reason is because Demons is based more on action and is much more exciting than the conversation-dense Code. Overall, the book is like the movie: an exciting page-turner and action-filled romp, but still lacks density and development which take it to the next level.
