MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 2:15 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| Angels & Demons Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer |
| MPAA Rated: | PG-13 |
| Released By: | Columbia Pictures |
| Kiddie Movie: | There’s a lot of violence and they’d just be confused. Leave them at home. |
| Date Movie: | My BFF enjoyed it, so I say bring them along. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Robert Langdon stays celibate, and keeps his clothes on, too. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Some people get burned, shot, drowned, etc., so yea |
| Action: | There’s a lot of running and chasing. |
| Laughs: | A chuckles here and there. |
| Memorable Scene: | I still like the puzzle solving, and would love to visit the Vatican archives. |
| Memorable Quote: | Nothing really. |
| Directed By: | Ron Howard |
I still can’t figure out what all of the hubbub was about that the Catholic Church originally brought up because my take on “Angels & Demons” is that the church might have their problems, but most of the problems in this movie are caused by a rogue priest, or maybe a couple of rogue priests, much like the problems in any religion, so Catholicism bashing aside, is the movie any good? You betcha!
“Angels & Demons” is actually a book that was released before “The Da Vinci Code,” but for the movie they shift it to being after the movie you probably saw, and you know what, you get the same kind of problem-solving, good looking girl, let’s try and save a life or two, and let’s get to the root of this problem to save something, kind of flick that you found in that Da Vinci film. And like that Da Vinci film, don’t try to hard to understand all of the story, just enjoy the ride.
Pretty much “Angels & Demons” involves a supposed plot from a group called The Illuminati (yea, you might also remember them from the Lara Kroft: Tomb Raider movie – I guess they get around, don’t they?). In any case, the Pope is dead, the Cardinals are getting ready to elect a new Pope, some Cardinal dudes get kidnapped, and a super-duper energy source also gets stolen. It seems that The Illuminati are pissed, looking for revenge on the Catholic Church for some atrocities years earlier, and to get their revenge, and fulfill an ancient prophesy, they are going to kill the four Cardinal dudes and then blow up The Vatican. Enter Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks). Sure, the Church is still pissed at Langdon for the whole “Jesus had siblings” thing from the previous movie, but they need the best, especially since there are only a few hours to get the puzzles solved, so in comes Bob, and with the help of Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), the scientist who can stop the anti-matter bomb from exploding, well, it’s a race across Rome to find the places the Cardinals are set to be killed, and also find the anti-matter bomb.
Along for the ride are some police dudes, all in conflict with each other because the Swiss Guards don’t like the Roman police, etc., but keeping everyone together is the good Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor). The Camerlengo, kind of the person in charge in between Popes, seems to have it all together, but maybe something is up with him as well.
Look, like “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels & Demons” is just a fun ride at the movies where I don’t think you are supposed to understand everything, just sit back and have a little fun while your brain gets confused, and like “The Da Vinci” code, most critics are bashing it, but not this one, I’m like the movie for exactly what it is – just a fun romp with some clues to solve so that the good people can be saved.
Tom Hanks does his normal, steady self in the Langdon role, although I liked him better with the hair in the Da Vinci film, Ayelet Zurer is good enough as the easy-on-the-eyes dudette who tags along for the ride, and Ewan McGregor is fine in his role as the Camerlengo. You do get a good chunk of violence in this movie as the Cardinals do end up dying in some pretty gruesome ways, but hey, the movie is about a sinister society, hell-bent on getting revenge on the Catholic Church.
I say, much like you did for “The Da Vinci Code”, ignore all of the critics except me and go see “Angels & Demons.” Yup, the story is kind of preposterous, you might see the ending coming even if you haven’t read the book, and you might have some fun. What you probably won’t get is coming out of the movie thinking the church is a bunch of anti-science, old-school farts who don’t care about the current world we live in. For me it’s 3 ½ stars out of 5. Go ahead and see it, and don’t worry if you don’t understand what anti-matter really is, it doesn’t matter that much to the plot other than it will explode if it touches real matter.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!