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DVD Corner: ‘Angels & Demons’ another crime drama
Mac Olsen
for Spotlight
Rated 14A by Canadian Home Video Rating
2 hours, 18 minutes (theatrical edition, reviewed) and 2 hours, 26 minutes (extended edition)
$26.95 for single-disc theatrical edition DVD, $28.95 for two-disc extended edition and $28.95 for Blu-ray at www.columbiahouse.ca
Just as with books, movie titles sometimes give a false impression about what their story is going to be about, which is definitely the case with ‘Angels & Demons’.
Director Ron Howard teams up again with Tom Hanks in the sequel to ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon who studies symbolism and is eager to access the ultra-secret Vatican archives to write a book, although all his requests have been turned down. That is, until a threat emerges from a centuries old enemy of the Vatican, the Illuminati.
During a top secret test in Switzerland, Vittoria Vetra (played by Ayelet Zurer) discovers a small amount of anti-matter known as the “God Particle” is stolen and she joins Langdon in Rome to search for it. They also learn the Illuminati has kidnapped four cardinals. An assassin (played by Nikolaj Lie Kaas) has hidden them throughout Rome.
Meanwhile, the College of Cardinals is meeting in a conclave to elect a new pope. The Camerlengo Patrick McKenna (played by Ewan McGregor), who is acting as the head of state until the election is finished, has the delicate task of ensuring the Illuminati doesn’t upset their meeting. Reluctantly, he allows Langdon and Vetra to access the Vatican’s sensitive delicate archives.
They examine a record about Galileo and make an important discovery, which becomes part of their other clues about the Illuminati. With the help and sometimes hindrance of the Italian police, they race through Rome searching for the cardinals. However, the assassin is always one step ahead of them and carries out his task with ruthless efficiency.
Just when it appears the situation has reached its lowest point, the camerlengo is attacked with a branding iron, which burns his chest with another symbol of the Illuminati.
The perpetrator is killed and, later, the camerlengo becomes the saviour of Rome when the “God Particle” is finally found. However, not everything is as it seems, and there’s a surprising twist at the end.
As a conventional crime drama, ‘Angels & Demons’ is a major letdown. The religious mysticism and intrigue which dominated ‘The Da Vinci Code’ are not there.
Instead of being the scholar/author on symbolism and renowned expert on religion, Langdon has turned into a modern day detective. He is too much like Nicholas Cage’s character, Benjamin Franklin Gates, in the ‘National Treasure’ movies, which also uses symbols and detective tactics in his quests.
The strong points of the movie are its cinematography of Rome, especially the exterior shots of the Vatican and the interiors shots of churches, as well as the costumes of the cardinals and the Vatican’s Swiss guards.
However, ‘Angels & Demons’ deserves only 2 ˝ stars out of five because it follows the conventions of a crime drama.
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Angels & Demons
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