Angels & Demons is one of the more cheerfully dumb thrillers I've seen in a good long while. Every moment is more preposterous than the next, and after a brief period, the absurdity becomes oddly comforting. It's a lovely looking film, with authentic looking locations and a fair number of character actors who are obviously trying to replenished their Roth IRAs. It's not a good movie, but its one of the best kind of bad movies - a trashy pulp fiction that embraces its own wholly shoddiness. Angels and Demons is one of the most gleefully silly thriller I've seen in a long time. Every moment is more absurd than the next, and after a brief period, the absurdity becomes strangely comforting. It is a beautiful looking film, looking for authentic places and a good number of actors are of course trying to replenish their Roth IRAs. Not a good film, but one of the best kind of bad movies - Trashy pulp fiction a whole covered its own shoddiness.
A token amount of plot - After stealing a piece of innovative anti-matter, and the kidnapping of the four main contenders in line to succeed the Pope just died, the Vatican asks renowned Harvard Symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks, with less hair, less gut, and more humor this time). Although the church did not care much for insertion into the church past the politics (which is also free serious too long, and terribly boring), they need your help, however. Now Dr. Langdon and Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) only have five hours to figure out the location of the missing cardinals, including the location of the anti-matter, which has a pump to remove Vatican in the accident stroke of midnight.
While this fast-moving film is technically "better" than The Da Vinci Code, which is basically like a firing squad is more merciful to the gallows. Both use the pseudo-religious enough to legend glorified Hardy Boys mystery stories. What makes this sequel is an improvement that is the director Ron Howard (slightly) less afraid to recognize the silliness of the original novel. Unlike The Da Vinci Code, Angels and demons do not have to be treated as a sacred text, with all the reverence of such beloved works of literature. The inclusion of the infamous "Illuminati" society is a tap. They are always cool kids go to skulduggery mysterious, especially because "Illuminati" is a great name for a super secret organization of evil. Who does not mean belonging to an organization called the Illuminati?
Much of the running time involves Langdon still look random on a canvas or a symbol incredibly complicated and deduct schemes. Think of that scene in early 1966 when the film Batman and Robin Batman deduct behind the large system ( "It happened at sea ... the sea? C for Catwoman!") AND you have an idea of what that the whole investigation process of the film is like. Again and again, Langdon turns coal into diamonds, which allows the heroes of the race for the place where the next cardinal is ready to be killed. All others, basically sits back and reacts, Ayelet Zurer, but has much more to do than did Audrey Tautou in The Da Vinci Code. Cool, never pull a helpless Hanks Zurer, because throughout the race and the danger.
Stellan Skarsgard does little more than scowl, and sometimes impede progress (it is not surprising that recently said that the author of the original books, Dan Brown, is a very terrible writer). Nikolaj Lie Kaas makes a very convincing until the antagonist is obliged to deliver a monologue in a trivial speaking voice is not as fresh as it should be (parents cautioned, this is a much more violent and horrific picture of Da Vinci code, and is probably the least justified from the PG-13 Vantage Point). Ewan McGregor has some good moments as a priest torn between empathy and moral duty apparent, although their actions are the most weather from unintentionally hilarious when Nicolas Cage and Sam Elliot drag raced at the end of Ghost Rider.
