Fenil and Bollywood

Dan Brown-the name is enough to arouse curiosity! While the film adaptation of Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (TDVC) was above average, Angels And Demons succeeds in being better than the former. More about it later!

The story of the movie: Under the leadership of Father Silvano (Carmen Argenziano), scientists at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva succeed in getting hold of three vials of antimatter. But soon, someone breaks into Silvano’s lab, kills him and runs away with one vial of antimatter. Dr Vittoria (Ayelet Zurer) is the first one to find Silvano’s dead body. On the other hand, the Vatican is mourning the death of the Pope. It starts preparing for the Conclave of the Cardinals, which will decide who the next Pope will be. Until then, the Carmerlengo Patrick (Ewan McGregor) assumes the day-to-day control of the Vatican. But all hell breaks loose when the Illuminati, a 400-year-old underground rival society, becomes active and kidnaps the preferratti (i.e. the four most likely candidates to become the next Pope). The Illuminati even threatens to kill the candidates every hour starting at 8pm and then destroy the Vatican at midnight. It soon becomes clear that it was this kidnapper who stole the antimatter and he’s all set to explode the Vatican at 12 using it. The Vatican summons Dr Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and Dr Vittoria to help them find and rescue the preferratti, and search for the antimatter before midnight. An expert that Dr Langdon is, he soon finds a clue that should lead him to his goal. Will he be able to race against time and save the Vatican’s glory?

I had not read the book so I had no clue what would happen the next moment. And thankfully, the film will not confuse those who haven’t read the book before and that is surely one of its big plus point. There is enough happening in the film to keep the viewers engrossed. Robert Langdon giving lessons on history to explain the situation better was a treat to watch.

Undoubtedly, the best scene was when Langdon rescues the fourth candidate. The climax was well-shot. However, just when you feel everything is over, the film still goes on and on. It was at this point that the film turns a little dull. But then comes a big jatkedaar moment which was very impressive!

However, there are some glaring flaws in the film. Knowing that there is just an hour to save the 2nd candidate, still Dr Langdon, the Swiss Guards and the Vatican police are doing their job at a snail’s pace. They would pace up only when 10 minutes are remaining. Same happened when they were searching for 3rd candidate. It instantly reminded of the Mumbai police reaction of 26/11!

Performance wise, each actor was perfect. Tom Hanks was brilliant and much better than in TDVC. Of course, it was his wonderful dialogue delivery that impresses maximum. And watch out for his entry scene. Ayelet Zurer was wonderful and makes an impact from the first scene itself. Ewan McGregor’s performance was at par with Tom Hank’s. He was at its best in the second half wherein he gets more screen time. Nikolaj Lie Kaas as the assassin/kidnapper was marvelous. Watch out for his cold-blooded looks! From the supporting cast, Pierfrancesco Favino, Victor Alferi and Armin Mueller-Stahl leave a mark.

Salvatore Tontino’s cinematography was superb, instantly reminding of TDVC. The lensman was its best esp in those scenes which were shot in the interiors of the Vatican buildings (Sistine Chapel particularly).

Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman (who also wrote TDVC) and David Koepp (who has written some of my fav films-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds, Spider-Man, Jurassic Park and Mission Impossible) was near perfect. Of course, adapting a book into a film is no easy work and both these talented guys deserve the appreciation for their nice work.

Finally, Ron Howard shines as the director this time. I haven’t seen any of his films, except TDVC. In case of TDVC, the film fell in several places and emerged as an okay product. Angels and Demons, however, keeps one on the edge of the seat right from the beginning and with all its flaws notwithstanding, it still emerges as an entertaining product.

Before the release of the film in India, the Catholic Bishop Conference of India called for its ban saying that it would hurt the religious sentiments of the people. But after a private screening for Catholic groups, the ban was lifted. However, they requested to add a disclaimer in the film stating it is completely a work of fiction. However, they were so cautious of this that the disclaimer is flashed twice in the movie-one in the beginning and the other as soon as the film ends and before the titles roll!

Some of the best scenes:
1.   Antimatter captured at the CERN
2.   Langdon at the Swiss Guards headquarters
3.   Langdon and Vittoria at the Vatican archives (funny scene!)
4.   The scene at the Raphael’s chapel
5.   The intermission point
6.   Langdon being confronted by the assassin at the 3rd alter
7.   Langdon at the 4th alter
8.   The final 20 minutes

On the whole, Angels And Demons is a nice entertaining product that will appeal to the audiences. It has some goofs but still succeeds in impressing. With no other interesting film releasing, watching this film during the weekend will be a nice option!

Note: The film has released in India in single screens only!

My rating-**** out of 5!