“Be careful; these are men of God.”
Dan Brown’s latest adapted film is slightly altered from the novel but fares well in theater form. The suspense is set in just one night, one terrible night following a horrific week for the Vatican. The pope is dead and conclave must begin to elect a new pope, cardinals travel from every nation serving the (as the film reminds us twice) some one billion Catholics throughout the world.
I read this novel a few years ago, so I wasn’t really busy trying to reconcile every scene in the movie with the book – unlike when I saw The Da Vinci Code shortly after I finished the novel joining the masses, however reluctantly. I was well pleased to find that Dan Brown’s writings are all page turners, similar to my favorite suspense author, Kyle Mills – but with a more theological slant. Yet, not so much proselytizing nor anti-theology to be preachy, if you’ll pardon the obviously conflicted pun.
The film opens with contrasting shots of Religion – the Vatican, Science – CERN, and Balance – Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks). His character is no friend to the Vatican following the embarrassment caused by his exposure of the zealot wing of the ultra-conservative, Opus Dei. Yet, I checked back, here the storyline was altered from the novels, The Da Vinci Code hadn’t happened yet, and a quick reference is made to his past exploits, which I must admit was done well enough that this plot gap can be easily forgiven, so give Ron Howard a break.
Brutal violence is meted out to several unfortunate souls, trapped by the elusive Illuminati, the ancient enemy of the Papacy. The secret society seeks revenge for the Purga, torturous murders carried out hundreds of years ago by brutally and publicly slaughtering and branding men of science. War was declared then; the battle has been joined . . . now.
What was wonderful about this new film is that you didn’t need to see the first movie to be enthralled with Langdon, Hanks got a haircut this time, thanks be to God. Hanks performed with his normal stoic professionalism, while Ayelet Zurer is another story altogether. Her character, Vittoria was far more interesting and tactile in the novel, her acting never pulled me into her plight. One of the key antagonists from the novel is never even so much as mentioned by name, but I can see why Howard had to cut him, a lot of his character’s angst in the novel is inner brooding and really only translates well on paper.
Some changes to the screenplay really irked me though – and I think it might have been Sony’s fear of a political backlash. The Hassassin is, well, that might be spoiling things a bit, but he is not at all as portrayed in the novel. (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) did an adequate job making me believe he was a trained killer with a subdued intensity, yet somehow his character was also quite boring on screen, something just didn’t sit right with me – he was not ferocious enough.
Ewan McGregor will forever be Obi Wan Kenobi to me, but he managed to pull me into his character a few times, as the Carmelengo to the deceased pope. One of the more likable actors though would have to be Thure Lindhardt as Chartrand – I really believed in his character, I wondered what his life was like after work etc. Great job there, and I liked his character in the novel as well, I am sure Dan Brown was pleased with his performance. The remaining supporting actors carried their own but don’t require further mentioning.
Let’s just drop all the purist attacks for now and break down the film itself. The music was similar to The Da Vinci Code but had a darker undertone from the beginning – and this film is much darker than The Da Vinci Code. Cinematography is unspectacular, save for two incredibly powerful moments, when the CERN Hadron Collider is fired and at the very end, when the final piece of the puzzle is revealed, the music combined with a bird’s eye view shot from the final stop on the path to illumination sent a chill up my spine. Nice touch.
One thing that carried over from the novel well to the theater, you’ll never view the four elements: Earth; Air; Fire and Water the same way again. This film will not disappoint you for pure cinematic value alone, and I am sure the DVD will be chock full of great behind the scenes footage. So much attention to detail went into this work, with layered elements, you are sure to see new things the second and third time.
Because of the story itself, you almost have to watch this one at least twice to fully appreciate it. Check it out in theaters now, or wait and add it to your DVD or Bluray collection, but definitely see this at some point. For all my Catholic friends out there, the Vatican didn’t prohibit seeing this one – so enjoy.
