How to break a code! (The Da Vinci Code (DVD))

Name: Ailran

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Product:	The Da Vinci Code (DVD)
Date:	20.05.06 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Umm.... Paul Bettany

Disadvantages: Nothing else at all, all the rest is diabolical.

Dan Brown was an average writer of reasonably good thrillers when he wrote a second novel starring his symbology expert Robert Langdon. The Da Vinci Code became a blockbuster publishing phenomena, which has led to many, many copycat books appearing since. Word of mouth about the book spread like wildfire and more and more people started picking up the book to try and find out what was so fascinating about it. The book is not overly well written but it is paced extremely well, has intrigue a plenty and is impossible to put down. The most perfect example of a page turning book I have ever read.
I guess it came as no surprise to anyone that the rights for the story were negotiated for and eventually a film made of it. A ready-made audience of millions who have read the book and the controversial elements that upset certain Christian organisations and the publicity machine is pretty much up and running before the studio have spent a dollar on it!

The big surprises came when it was announced who was to star and direct the film. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon… surely not? He has never been the kind of actor who would star in this kind of film, he is more of a drama and comedy guy than an action star, even if it is a thinking mans action film. And Ron Howard as the director… what are they studio thinking off, sure he is a good director but not for the sort of film Da Vinci would be. Reservations started to set in!

For those few of you who don’t know The Da Vinci Code is a mystery thriller involving secret religious organisations, special codes and tricks used to keep a long held secret hidden and the search for the Holy Grail. The search for this grail and its true meaning, a meaning that could destroy Christianity all over the world, races across all Europe as Langdon and Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tatou, Amelie) try to beat the bad guys to the treasure.
It claims that all we believe about Jesus is not the whole truth, that the church has kept the truth from us for their own purposes. The church want this kept secret but how far will they go to do so?
Langdon and Neveu have not only got to unlock the puzzled and clues to lead them to the grail but alos to stay out of the clutches of both Opus Dei, a mysterious Christian organisation, and the Priory of Scion, the protectors of the Grail and also known as the Knights Templar in past times.

The film has been hyped up to enormous proportions, and shot down by most reviewers. For once the reviewers are right, I rarely agree with them it has to be said..
The Da Vinci code is a terrible film, an exciting book turned into a plodding and lethargic movie that never ever manages to excite.
The blame for this must largely lie on the shoulders of Ron Howard, who somehow manages to turn everything into an exercise in concentrating on the plot points of the major scenes rather than try to make an exciting film. He seem to have forgotten that while the plot is important so is actually having some tension and thrills in there.
A book and a movie are not the same, a visual medium needs a more visual take on things, you cannot concentrate on the plot like you can with a book.

Howard seems to have been unable to find a way of injecting any stylish stuff into the main story so he does it by using flashbacks into the past to explain things. These look incredible and on paper probably sounded like a great idea, in fact in the book it works, problem is on film all it does it explain things that don’t really need to be explained in that manner and slow down the pacing of the film completely. In fact it does more than slow it down it kills any pace the film has managed to gain, and prevents the film from ever really flowing at all. Most of the scenes are completely unnecessary, explaining finer plot details that are not really needed, or could be explained with a couple of lines of dialogue. The same can be said of the special effects used when Langdon is working things out in his head, the first time it is clever but once you have seen it a couple more times it is just annoying., pointless and again detracts from the film.

The second big problem with the film is that, as expected, Hanks as Langdon just doesn’t work. I’ll admit I don’t like him anyway but even so he just does not come across as the kind of man Langdon does in the book. The complete removal of the sexual chemistry between Sophie and Langdon doesn’t help as it means he just appears to be a boring old professor in way over his head and being dragged along. By events, only to every so often work something out. This maybe what Brown intended but it wasn’t what I thought of Langdon being, hence I was really disappointed in the character being really nerdy like. Maybe better casting would have helped but too be honest I don’t think anyone could have saved this film!

The third big problem the film has is that it brings out the absurdities of the book. When reading you can brush over things that don’t quite make sense in the rush to read the next page, engrossed in what is going to happen next. On screen little things like this really stand out, and to bug you. The biggest stand out is that the actual clues for the quest are not exactly difficult to work out, someone would have worked out some of the things going on by now and if not the complicated way of keeping the secret just makes no sense when you see it on screen. Like I said you can brush over these inconsistencies in the book but not in a film where visuals are everything and they are large before your eyes!

The one thing I did like in this was Paul Bettany as the albino monk, Silas. He puts in a top performance, but then that isn’t hard as no none else really stands out at all.

I have to admit that despite my reservations I was really looking forward to this. I loved the book, badly written though it is. Sadly it pretty much fails on every level and never excites you or brings any level of dramatic tension. How they messed this up so badly I’ll never know, but I guess they will not care as everyone will still flock to see it!

Starring
Tom Hanks – Robert Langdon
Audrey Tautou – Sophie Neveu
Ian McKellen (X-Men) - Sir Leigh Teabing
Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) - Bishop Aringarosa
Paul Bettany (Wimbledon) – Silas
Jurgen Prochnow (Air Force One) - André Vernet
Jean Reno (Leon) – Captain Fache
Running Time – 149 minutes
Certificate – 12A

Summary: A great story ruined completely, but eberyone will still go see it.