 Review |
May 21st, 2009 |
Untitled Document
Angels and Demons
Review
by lyle e davis
 Opie went and made hisself a neat movie!
Director Ron Howard (Opie) had to have had fun making this movie. Tom Hanks has to be one of the greatest actors on the planet, the script and plot line has viewers sitting on the edge of their seats throughout the film, and the ending(s) (there are several) will likely catch you totally off guard. Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), who had played a critical role in The Da Vinci Code, now returns to discover evidence, yet again, of the ancient secret brotherhood know as the Illuminati - a powerful secret brotherhood that is bent on revenge. The Illuminati has one central enemy from which it seeks revenge. The Catholic Church. Four Cardinals are marked for death within a four hour time span. Each of the Cardinals is a candidate to become Pope, since the reigning Pope has just died. Langdon is called in to try and save the lives of these Cardinals by figuring out clues and codes and playing a detective on a short time leash.
Our Mr. Hanks (and a beautiful companion, the beautiful Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra, the brains behind the anti-matter brew, which we will soon discuss) scurry about on a nonstop, action-packed hunt through many spooky places, some of which are sacred.
In the process of the hunt, the Illuminati threatens to not only kill the four kidnapped Cardinals but seeks to brand them, as with a red-hot branding iron, and to do one an hour, until all four are killed. Tough nuts, these Illuminati characters.
While all this is going on a Swiss research facility has successfully isolated anti-matter, a substance that everything is made of and, if not handled properly, will cause a cataclysmic catastrophe. Somehow, the bad guys get ahold of this anti-matter and add an additional threat to the Vatican. (See? I told you we'd talk about it).
There is a handsome, likable priest who the viewer kinda, sorta, hopes will wind up being rewarded by being given the Papacy, eveny bypassing the normal requirement of being elevated from the status of being a Cardinal, seeing as how he's so helpful and all, serving as the Camerlengo (Chief Assistant to the late Pope and acting in his stead until the College of Cardinals elects a new Pope).
The movie moves forward so quickly, with so much action, that you dare not go to the restroom else you will surely miss a murder. (And isn't that what we're all here for?)
Several of the elite critics have panned the movie. But they panned Wizard of Oz as well.
Me? I loved the movie. I left the theatre feeling like . . "finally, they're starting to make great movies."
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