A total fun ride thriller

Angels & Demons

Certification: PG

Cast: Tom Hanks, Ewan

McGregor, Ayelet Zurer,

Stellan Skarsgard, Armin

Mueller-Stahl, Nikolaj Lie

Kaas, Pierfrancesco Favino

Director: Ron Howard

Genre: Thriller, Drama

BEFORE Dan Brown wrote the highly controversial The Da Vinci Code which catapulted him to international stardom, there was the quieter Angels & Demons.

This novel first introduced the character Harvard symbologist and adventurist Prof Robert Langdon in his very first mystery-solving escapade and it was the better of the two.

As for the movie, without the need for a character introduction and after taking to heart the critics' consensus that the first movie was too talky and static, Angels & Demons is a much better follow-up compared with its silver screen predecessor.

The very likeable Tom Hanks once again reprises his role as the good professor. We first see him swimming laps in a pool and when he emerges out of the water, you know he has been working out.

He has also rid himself of the absurd hairstyle he so infamously sported in The Da Vinci Code. So this is a good start.

Robert this time is whisked off to the Vatican City, where four cardinals have been kidnapped by a mysterious figure who claims to be a member of the Vatican's arch-enemy, the Illuminati.

The pope has just recently died and the young camerlengo, Patrick McKenna (Ewan McGregor), is in the midst of preparing for the election of a new pope, with the four kidnapped cardinals being the top candidates.

But they will be killed off one at every hour, starting 8pm, at locations hinted cryptically in the kidnapper's message.

There is also the dire situation of the stolen antimatter from the Cern research lab in Switzerland, and the kidnapper has hidden the canister inside Vatican City. Around midnight, the antimatter will implode and the blast will be strong enough to level all of Vatican City and some of Rome.

As Robert has done research on the Illuminati before, he is called in by Inspector Olivetti (Pierfrancesco Favino), but it wasn't a decision shared by the head of the Swiss Guards, Commander Richter (Stellan Skarsgard).

With the aid of the only scientist from Cern with deep knowledge of the stolen antimatter, Vittoria Vitra (Ayalet Zurer), Robert races against time to try and save the cardinals and Vatican City.

For those who have not read the book, the movie might be a little confusing at times because so many details have been omitted. Akiva Goldsman, who also adapted The Da Vinci Code, teamed up this time with David Koepp (Spider-Man, War Of The Worlds).

The pair have produced a fast-paced movie that doesn't even allow Robert to catch his breath; and when he does slow down, say researching at the library, you know something is about to catch up on him instead.

Comparing Langdon to another professor-slash-adventurer, Indiana Jones, there's no doubt which lecture students would rather attend.

Even with the talented Hanks portraying Langdon, there just isn't enough charisma in the adapted character. More often than not, Langdon looks like a reluctant tourist thrown into deciphering cryptic codes.

But there are moments when Hanks really shines and you know there's no one else who could have delivered those scenes any better, especially when he needed to explain all those scientific mumbo jumbo to the audience. In times like these, you realise director Ron Howard knew what he was doing when he casted his friend as the lead.

Fortunately, there's McGregor to do the charming. Together with Skarsgard and Armin Mueller-Stahl, who plays another powerful cardinal; the three create more interest in the fate of the Catholic Church, with each struggling for power in the wake of the pope's death.

Angels & Demons succeeds in many ways The Da Vinci Code failed. However, compared with the book, too much of the final act has been left out in the movie to do the book any justice. But as a standalone, the movie is one fun ride that's thrilling from beginning to the end.

Reviewer's Rating: 7 / 10

The Brunei Times