Angels and Demons
Struggles to keep you entertained for a sluggish two hours of film.

Following the cinematic farce that was 2006’s The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons continues the tradition of Ron Howard’s below par Dan Brown adaptations. Despite the massive following his novels have gained, it appears Brown’s convoluted plots and startling plot twists are simply unable to translate onto the silver screen.

Angels and Demons follows on from the events of the original, with Tom Hanks returning (albeit without mullet) as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time in a race against time to save Vatican City from a mysterious cult known as the Illuminati. Vatican officials enlist the help of Langdon along with CERN scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer), in order to unravel the Illuminati’s plot which involves the kidnapping of four leading cardinals as well as the presence of a bomb that would wipe out the centre of Catholicism for good. They are joined by a helpful priest, played by Ewan McGregor (complete with the accent of a cartoon Irishman) and Stellan Skarsgard’s cantankerous head of security, Commander Richter.

Although Howard assembles a cast worthy of a summer blockbuster, the film labours under the burden of its dialogue heavy script and its lengthy 138-minute running time. When an action sequence finally does arrive it’s usually composed of a few cars darting through Rome’s streets, followed by the discovery of a gruesomely murdered elderly cardinal. Hopefully the rest of this summer’s blockbusters will focus more on action rather than having the lead character explain everything like some kind of docile history teacher.

Though despite these flaws the film is certainly an improvement on its predecessor; Ron Howard has obviously learned that it isn’t necessary to crowbar in every aspect of the source material in order to please the fans. The film also relents on the use of embellished historical ‘facts’, that really only serve to make the audience believe there’s a global conspiracy behind every establishment known to man.

Despite being almost universally panned by critics, The Da Vinci Code’s impressive box office takings were always going to mean a sequel, and Ron Howard delivers a sequel that undoubtedly improves on his previous efforts. However to improve on The Da Vinci Code is no great achievement and although the film’s numerous plot twists may appear fresh to some, Angels and Demons struggles to keep you entertained for a sluggish two hours of film.

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