“Dr. Langdon, what a relief. The symbolist is here,” Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgård) says dryly to Dr. Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks). I understand his lack of enthusiasm. Let us all pray we never hear that greeting again. This convoluted plot is as murky and confusing as the copious underground Roman passageways, where much of this film takes place. Only an exciting final thirty minutes comes close to bringing this film redemption.

Angels and Demons begins with murder and robbery in a lab developing some kind of scary anti-matter and with the death of a “progressive” and popular pope. Now that it is time to elect a new pope, the four cardinals who are finalists in the pope race have been kidnapped. The kidnappers appear to be affiliated with an ancient group devoted to science called the Illuminati. They threaten to publicly kill the four pope finalists at midnight, using the stolen anti-matter. Professor Langdon is summoned to decipher the clues and prevent the murders. He is joined by an attractive scientist from the lab, Vittoria Vetra (Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer). Langdon and Vetra spend some time in the Vatican archives looking at banned texts by Galileo, but spend most of the film running through what seems like an endless series of empty cathedrals, underground crypts and spooky catacombs.

Angels and Demons gets a big assist from an international supporting cast. Stellan Skarsgård is formidable as the head of the Swiss Guard and Armin Mueller-Stahl  is his usual stern self as an elderly cardinal. Their enigmatic portrayals leave one unsure if they are good guys or bad guys, but in either case, you wouldn’t want to tangle with them. Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas  plays an assassin as if he is your average nice guy, and this makes him even scarier. Ewan McGregor is a passionate young priest who radiates sincerity. He adds life to this film.

Although the book of Angels and Demons predated The DaVinci Code, the films are in reverse order. This means that the more interesting plot already happened. In The DaVinci Code, the plot involved clues hidden in a DaVinci painting suggesting that Jesus was married and had a daughter. The plot’s plausibility can be argued, but at least it was clear and if true, would have far reaching effects. That film and book actually generated controversy. How can The Illuminati, Galileo and Vatican politics compare to Jesus having a wife and child?  The Vatican newspaper actually gave Angels and Demons a good review. They called Angels and Demons “harmless entertainment.” Perhaps that is because this film did not attack faith or the church, or as they said, “hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity.” In fact, this film is not affecting at all.

After the film was over, my companion and I discussed the differences between Angels and Demons and the Indiana Jones films. Indiana is fun and Langdon is a bit of a bore. It is difficult to care about him. Why put an actor as funny and charming as Tom Hanks in the role of a stiff and serious academic?  Director Ron Howard does the best he can, but it is still a formulaic action film that needs something more, and does not get it until the final thirty minutes. The action at the end is thrilling, the plot twist unexpected and the resolution satisfying. But I am not sure if it was worth the wait.

Angels and Demons. Directed by Ron Howard. With Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon), Ewan McGregor (Camerlengo Patrick McKenna),Ayelet Zurer (Vittoria Vetra), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Assassin), Stellan Skarsgård( Commander Richter) and Armin Mueller-Stahl (Cardinal Strauss). Columbia Pictures,  2009.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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