Movie Review – Angels and Demons (2009)

Director: Ron Howard
Writer: David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Anticipation of the expected controversy of Angels and Demons after seeing The Da Vinci Code left me with complete disappointment. Not to say that Angels and Demons was a bad movie or that The Da Vinci Code was a great film, but Angels and Demons was certainly not as interesting as Da Vinci Code. Still this film managed to be well made and well acted from almost all respects. What it lacks is simply a compelling story.

Angels and Demons made attempts in the previews to make it seem as though it would be controversial and exciting, but in the end it was a mediocre thriller/drama. Ron Howard still directs with confidence and the cinematography was beautiful. The acting was excellent by Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor even if a little laid back by Hanks. Hanks has certain style that is universal across all of his films and that is part of what makes him so great. He looks comfortable in his characters and that is what true acting is about. McGregor almost seemed out of place as McKenna, but he still comes through. Unfortunately the directing allowed some of the things that were supposed to be more subtle in the acting shine their ugly head out on the film. You can quite easily see what is coming next and if you can’t then you will likely feel like it was obvious once you see it played out.

In spite of its flaws it does manage to be entertaining. The most frustrating thing about the film is how it feels like everything just plays out so perfectly. It did not feel like Hanks had to do much to figure out the next move of the antagonist. Every move we are one step behind, yet so close. It almost feels like if they had just taken a couple more minutes trying to figure something out they could have caught the bad guy earlier on rather than stringing it out into this huge spectacle. But alas, then there would not be a movie. Drama? Yes. Thriller? Well, maybe. It has its exciting moments and it is fast paced, but it almost runs more like an action adventure like Indiana Jones or National Treasure. This is not what I expected at all.

The verdict is that it is mediocre. It is not at all controversial like the Da Vinci Code was (which is what that one had going for it) and it is not as thrilling as most thrillers. The fact that it follows The Da Vinci Code may be its biggest downfall. I was expecting more and received less. Ron Howard is not always the best, but he is fairly consistently good and he happens upon greatness from time to time. Unfortunately we will have to wait until Howard’s next film to see if we can have greatness again. As far as the whole family being able to watch Angels and Demons it is pretty close to that clean. There are certainly some intense scenes and a little bit of blood, but it isn’t Die Hard or anything especially from a language aspect. This is a take or leave type movie; don’t rush to see it.

The Skinny Version

Raw Score: 702,091
Sharon Movie? No

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