Review: Angels and Demons

May 15 2009 by The Journal

landscape: angels and demons tom hanks(PA: DO NOT REUSE)

IN various religious texts and works of art, angels and demons are regarded as the messengers to the afterlife in either Heaven or Hell.

Ron Howard's action-packed film, adapted from the best-seller by Dan Brown, hovers somewhere between the two extremes, jettisoning the ponderous dialogue which blighted The Da Vinci Code in favour of a game of cat and mouse around Rome.

The pace is certainly quicker by virtue of a lean script. Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is the urbane symbologist whose encyclopaedic knowledge of secret brotherhoods proves invaluable in saving the holy city from destruction.

When a respected research scientist is found dead in his particle physics laboratory in Geneva, his chest branded with a strange symbol, Langdon is summoned to investigate.

He links the symbol to a secret society, the Illuminati, thought to have died out centuries ago.

In a chilling twist, the dead man’s colleague – Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) – reveals that a canister full of antimatter was stolen, and is primed to explode somewhere within the Vatican.

Robert and Vittoria search for clues under the watchful eye of the Camerlengo (Ewan McGregor), the acting head of state, and the worldly Cardinal Strauss.

Adding to their woes, the four Cardinals most likely to be elected Pope are missing, kidnapped by an assassin with a horrific master plan.

The film is thankfully shorter than its predecessor and ultimately more enjoyable, trading in the history lesson for thrills.

Unfortunately, by excising so much of the plot that underpins Brown’s book, Langdon is reduced to a glorified tour guide.

Hanks has buffed up, while McGregor’s Irish accent comes and goes at whim, and Zurer is almost redundant until the finalé.

Production values are high throughout and the big set-pieces well orchestrated.