I had high hopes for A&D after the fascinating 1st Dan Brown movie adaptation of the Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately A&D fell way short of my expectations.
Entertainment-wise, it was good for audience and there is also plenty of drama led by the main villain who is a cold-hearted assassin (Nikolaj Lie Kaas). But I recommend that viewers read the book for a much more fulfilling adventure.
Perhaps it cannot be blamed that A&D had too much pace for its own good, the storyline in the book itself would probably have taken 3 movies to finish. So I will be fair and judge the movie on its own merit though the non-reader of the book will perhaps be in a better position to rate it.
Tom Hanks reprised his role as professor Robert Langdon, who is activated by Cern, the world's leading authority of aspects of science, after the discovery of a murdered renowned scientist at Cern's facility. The death happened just moments after the scientist had created anti-matter (Google it).
The scientist's partner, Vittoria Vitra (the lovely Ayelet Zurer) gets into the fold as well, obviously enraged by her partner's death, and also very much concerned about the anti-matter falling into the wrong hands.
The circumstances of the death was also interesting, ironic vocab perhaps, given that a death had just occured. It seems to have unexpectedly re-introduced the mythical secret society known as the Illuminati after more than 500 years out of the spotlight.
Robert Langdon, a learned symbologist, was faxed the Illuminati symbol, which had been stamped on the dead scientist's chest, and he claimed that no known person has managed to replicate that symbol, and though he was still sceptical of the Illuminati's revival, he gradually got himself excited with the possibility of finally unearthing the Illuminati.
At roughly the same time, the Vatican City was in the midst of electing a new Pope, the previous Pope seemingly having just died of natural causes. When Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra partnered each other at Vatican City, the Holy Place where the Pope election is taking place, so began the entertainment aspect where more clue-solving, mystery-discovering and crime-busting which tries its best to keep the audience glued to the screen.
As mentioned earlier, the movie certainly provided good entertainment value. The storyline revolving around the Illuminati, and the supposed leaders of the society, will have made many googled it on online. As with the novels (both The Da Vinci Code & A&D), the movies also provided much lessons for the audience.
I, for one, as a young kid, used to devour pages of encyclopedia and such knowledge provided in the movies, though some are purely fictional (maybe...), still provided some interesting insight and what-if questions as well.
But at the heart of it all, A&D was just another investigative movie with a decent enough twist at the end. Do not expect your mind to be blown away too much as well but Tom Hanks did carry enough charisma, as did Ewan McGregor, to keep the movie enjoyable to watch.
Rated 3 of 5.
akim
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