Film of the week: Angels and Demons (12A)

Damon Smith • Published 21 May 2009 10:30 0 Comments

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 protracted game of cat and mouse around Rome.

The pace is certainly quicker by virtue of the lean script by Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp, which shifts the timeline of the source novel.

Thus, Angels & Demons is now a sequel rather than a prequel to The Da Vinci Code, which is referenced in a couple of lines of throwaway dialogue when characters remark on the strained relationship between Harvard professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and the church.

The altered chronology matters little since Hanks is the sole returning member of cast as 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 called the Illuminati, which was 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 from the laboratory, and is now 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 (Armin Mueller-Stahl).

Adding to their woes, the preferiti - the four Cardinals most likely to be elected Pope - are all missing, kidnapped by an assassin (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) with a horrific master plan.

Commanders Richter (Stellan Skarsgard) and Olivetti (Pierfrancesco Favino) from the Swiss Guard and the gendarmerie respectively pledge their support, but Robert and Vittoria have just a few hours to avert catastrophe by following the 400-year-old Path of Illumination.

Angels & Demons 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.

His dialogue is almost entirely expository, even tutoring the Swiss Guard and the gendarmerie on the Vatican City"s shady past in order to expose dark forces at work in this convoluted yarn.

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

Production values are high throughout and the big set-pieces well orchestrated, including a hilarious and unforgettable moment in St Peter"s Square that proves what goes up must come down. With a bump.

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 21 May 09

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