Directed by:
Ron HowardScreenplay:
Akiva GoldsmanCinematography:
Salvatore TotinoComposer:
Hans ZimmerCast:
Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Seth Gabel (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
The murder of a curator at the Louvre reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected since the days of Christ. Only the victim's granddaughter and Robert Langdon, a famed symbologist, can untangle the clues he left behind. The two become both suspects and detectives searching for not only the murderer but also the stunning secret of the ages he was charged to protect. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
When the book came out and I was lucky enough to get it very early and read it, I was thrilled. Brown's deductions were almost unbelievable, it all made sense. Only now, over time, do I see that the boy excels mainly in research, which he takes great care with, and then the story crystallizes from it on its own. Let's be honest, without that research, there wouldn't be any story; it would just be a classic treasure hunt. He can write it (i.e. use the information he finds) and that is appreciated. Ron Howard's take on the film is Hollywood-esque and quite boring. The chase for riddles here sometimes comes across as almost childish. However, that doesn't change the fact that it works quite well and is a film that entertains.
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Writer Dan Brown is definitely not going to become the new Umberto Eco, yet his book is quite readable. Unfortunately, the film version is rather unfortunate, given the literal adherence not only to individual scenes but often to the lines themselves, which somehow lose their meaning and logic without further explanation. This then becomes a continuous sequence of dialogues, from which the most fervent conspiracy theories, which so annoy the bigwigs in the Vatican, are suppressed into the background. Still, hats off to Ron Howard for making it flow relatively well despite the exorbitant runtime. If it wasn't for the awkward car chase that steals from The Bourne Identity and the rather clumsily filmed flashbacks, the film would have been more than decent because the scene where Langdon contemplates the cipher and the memory of Issac Newton's monument forms in front of him is amazing, as is the final kneeling. Tom Hanks is not suitable for the main role at all (the wannabe youthful look does not suit this actor), while on the other hand, Paul Bettany is excellent as the albino, including his precisely chosen accent. It’s a thriller worth a single watch, and if it hadn't had the heavy advertising, the copies in the video stores would have been covered in dust after a few months.
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I like the book much more. It was readable, full of suspense, in places funny. Unlike the movie, which is long-winded and in places boring to tears. It’s as if the screenplay just sketched the path along which we were meant to set out and ignored any clarity in the plot, individuality of characters and integrity of story. A movie isn’t a book and I think they forgot about that here. I would also have expected more from the cast. Tom Hanks gives the bare minimum and Audrey Tautou just looks pretty. It was Ian McKellen who did most work, thoroughly enjoying his role of rich seeker. The others just don’t get much room. The Da Vinci Code certainly wasn’t the event of the year, but luckily the overall effect doesn’t seem as awful as I had feared. 60 %. Oh and btw, the music is amazing. Hans Zimmer played his heart out.
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Howard is innocent here. The plot, which is primarily about talking and talking, probably couldn't be filmed better. Even the actors do a solid job considering what the script allowed them to do (both Hanks and Tautou were fine, not to mention McKellen). And those two and a half hours did go by pretty quickly. Why 2* then? The problem is the rambling source material and, logically, the script. Brown confuses apples with pears, history with myths, creates conspiracy theories as a skillful manipulator, which are nice to listen to (and read), but at their core they are pulled from the proverbial ass and are closer to stupidity rather than controversy (but what can you expect from a man who confuses bits with bytes in his “Digital Fortress”, right?). How am I supposed to enjoy such a film when what it presents - from the premise to the unbelievable characters - is one big pile of nonsense? At the end, when the twist is revealed, I was just waiting for Monty Python to show up and sing a song. I can understand the big sales, a hearty media and advertising campaign can do wonders ("Film of the Century!" etc.), but I wonder, did this "poor man’s Daniken" really sell 60 million copies? Well, to each their own, but everyone gets what they deserve, of course.
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Like the book, the picture is rather “naive" and rather than quality, we get solid craftsmanship instead. Thanks to the flatness of the characters, the actors have very little acting to do, which is highlighted by it being rather garrulous and so the entire movie relies on vocal performances. Although this could easily be cut down a good few minutes, in the end it is watchable without great damage to your health. But the only actually positive side of the whole Code is Zimmer’s soundtrack, which makes even the most boring dialog scene seem as if it is something fundamentally important for the story. The creators tended toward the secrecy storyline, which is therefore given the most space and so only a fraction of the movie is devoted to cracking the code and this becomes just a necessary evil with no power behind it, which is a great shame. OST score: 4/5
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