‘Angels and Demons’ a masterful mystery

“Angels and Demons” — 4.5 out of 5 stars for thriller/suspense

Ty Hampton
Critic’s Corner

Opposed to its precursor book-to-film adaptation “The Davinci Code”, a relative big screen belly flop, “Angels and Demons” dives in deep as a non-stop thrill ride with plenty of mystery, intrigue, and fateful twists to keep audiences on the edges of their seats.

Out of the early summer blockbusters I have to say that I enjoyed “Wolverine” and “Star Trek” for what they are, but this is a different caliber of film that blows both right out of the water. From Director Ron Howard’s pristine footage of Rome and the Vatican City, to the stunning visual effects, to stars Tom Hanks’ and Ewan
McGregor’s dueling great performances — this is a don’t miss film, no matter what the season.

Based off the novel by Dan Brown, acclaimed actor Tom Hanks plays Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor and expert symbologist who has dedicated his studies to investigating the past and present of the Vatican and Catholicism’s influence on world history. The story picks up with the death of the Pope and the church is called to conclave to decide its predecessor, but a dark ancient enemy of the Vatican has returned and left symbols all over the city — including inscribed on the chests of three dead church cardinals.

It seems the villain is taking out each proposed favorite to take the Papal office, and Langdon is the only man with the knowledge to unravel the puzzle and stop the murders from occurring before it’s too late.

Hanks gives a fair performance in this one — although his performance pails in comparison to films such as “Forest Gump”, “Cast Away”, and “The Terminal.” However, supporting actor Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting”, “Star Wars: Episodes I and II”) upstages the legendary lead actor as Patrick McKenna, an assistant to the deceased Pope aids Langdon in his investigation knowing full well both of their lives are on the line.

Relatively unknown Swedish and Danish actors Stellan Skarsgard and Nikolaj Lie Kaas also provided quality supporting performances as a police commander with dark secrets and a deadly assassin for hire.

In my opinion there’s no higher tier level of directors than the level Ron Howard (“Frost/Nixon”, “A Beautiful Mind”, and “Backdraft”) is on currently. With cinematographer and director of photography Salvatore Totino at his side for their fifth film together, Howard can do no wrong here. The dynamic duo made a frantic thriller into a visually beautiful film that had the patience and maturity of a seasoned drama with the edge of a classic horror film.

While watching “Angels”, I was reminded of “Don’t Look Now” — a truly great thriller starring Donald Sutherland and based in the mystical city of Venice.

So even if you’ve read the book — love or hate Dan Brown — you will be pleased to see the story and characters come to life on screen in a big way. If you’re like me and you haven’t read the books well you my dear are on for a ride full of twists, deceit, and bloody betrayal.

Two advisories I would put out there are that this film is two hours and 18 minutes in length, but doesn’t seem like it, and there is a good deal of realistic, graphic violence that was not present in the “Davinci Code.”
The film and novel also both deal heavily in the philosophical debate of truth between spiritual belief and stone cold logic and scientific fact — but makes attempts to meet in the middle. The storyline is fictional, but deals with some very factual details of the Catholic church to make the plot seem all that much more real and believable.

None of these factors were a problem for me, but for some viewers they may be. This films primary purpose is to entertain and entertain it does, quite well.

For the thriller and suspense/mystery genres I would have to give this film a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and highly recommend it.

“Angels and Demons” is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, thematic material and disturbing images. The film is showing at 4, 6:50, and 9:30 p.m. nightly at the Showboat Cinema 2 in Polson.