Rating: *** (out of 4)Director: Ron Howard
'Angels and Demons' is the kind of fast-paced thriller with a plot loaded with twist and turns, that if you care to think about the plot more deeply after the film ends, you are bound to realize about its implausibility and discover plot holes.
But while you are watching it, it's unlikely that you will notice it and you will in fact be, glued to your seat and enjoy the ride.
There's no time to think, a time bomb is ticking, and we need to save the world...ooops, the Vatican.
The Catholic Church has just lost a respected and beloved Pope. In the interim period while the Cardinals are electing the next Pope, an ancient secret organization, the Illuminati resurfaced, with a vengeance.
The Illuminati was once a church faction who was pro-science. The church leadership at that time, did not like that, probably see them as a political threat and so persecuted them, and drove them underground.
The Illuminati has now resurfaced for revenge, and their game plan is over-the-top: kidnap the 4 favourite candidates to succeed the Pope, threaten to execute them one-by-one by 8,9,10 and 11pm, and finally blow off the Vatican with a time bomb by 12 mid night.
So, how do the Vatican cope with that? Reluctantly, they turned to someone they don't really like, Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), renowned symbollogist of Harvard University.
Poor Professor Langdon was dragged into a cat-and-mouse chase again as a innocent third party, this time racing against time to prevent 4 separate murders at 8,9,10,11 pm respectively, at 4 separate locations, and a time bomb to be defused at 12 mid night. Well, at least he had a companion of the beautiful Vitorria (Ayelet Zurer), the Italian scientist whose research material was stolen to be used as the time bomb.
While we are thrown into frantic chase, we sense that something fishy is going on in the Vatican church. Conspiracy? Insider Jobs? Sorry, I can't reveal any further about the plot or else I will be shot at for giving away spoilers.
The whole production is competently executed, something we have come to expect from a partnership of director Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. Fast-paced, taut, intriguing, occasional funny moments, and I actually appreciate the action sequence and explosion in the film, the very things which I have said some not-so-pleasant things about in my review on 'X-men Origins' and 'Star Trek'. Here, the explosion and action sequence felt necessary in the context of the plot.
The pace is simply so fast that you can't help but to simply ride along with the adventure, with no time to notice some of the film's flaws, like Professor Langdon's lack of personality and the plot holes.
Really, it is a more than descent piece of entertainment, and all is forgiven (How much do we know about Professor Langdon as a person after seeing the film? Never mind that)
"An Exciting and Contemporary Interpretation of Symbolism in
ReplyDeleteChristianity.The Secret Behind the Cross and the Crucifix by Nwaocha
Ogechukwu is a fascinating and historical narration about the use of
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