By Lexi Muir
<[email protected]>

After finishing Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, I was more than excited to see it come to life in the Ron Howard film. After seeing the film, however, I can say that it strays quite far from the book. This is not a bad thing, and the unexpected plot twists gave this “based on the book” film some independence from the book, and everything I thought I knew was wrong.

“Angels and Demons,” directed by Ron Howard, is a fast-paced, action-packed film that gives audiences no time to breathe or let their minds wander. I was gripping my seat for the entire 138 minutes, and I did not for a second think or focus about anything else but the movie.

The film takes the audience inside the Vatican in a time of utter disaster. The pope has died and a new pope must be chosen, but the four Preferiti (the likely candidates for the papacy) have been kidnapped and are supposedly going to be killed publicly inside the Vatican. Someone is out to destroy the Vatican and a special team is called to figure out the mystery and save the Catholic Church. As time runs out, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), the intelligent and humorous symbologist who is called to save the Vatican, and Vittoria Vetra (Ayulet Zurer), a silently sexy scientist who has discovered a substance called “antimatter” that could potentially blow up the entire Vatican, fight to uncover the clues of the Illuminati, the group behind the violence, and stop disaster from happening behind the walls of the Vatican.

Hanks and Zurer instantly click onscreen. As Vetra, Zurer is called to assist Langdon in his search for answers as she is the only one who can stop the antimatter from killing the entire Vatican city and its people. While the two work side by side and step into the dangerous waters, sparks fly and the audience can’t help but hope that they will find each other in the crisis at hand.

“Angels and Demons” also allows the audience a spectacular view inside the Vatican. The beautiful churches and streets of the Vatican sparkle in the sunlight and come to life when the sun goes down. The audience is given an inside look at the secrets of the Vatican, the process and sanctity of electing a Pope and the history of the Catholic faith.

As a less-than-huge fan of “The DaVinci Code,” I was unsure of whether I would like or be able to follow “Angels and Demons.” To my surprise, however, I was able to follow the movie quite well and was also able to understand it. The plot twists, which threw me for an unexpected turn, were clear and easily understandable. I found my mouth gaping with the rest of the audience, and it stayed that way for the majority of the movie.

Overall, “Angels and Demons” was a fantastic thriller that taught me more than any other movie I’ve seen in a while. While the movie was eventful and captivating, it gave me a greater look into the works of God and left me feeling warm. I even got a little teary at the end of the movie, and I have no been able to stop thinking about the incredible film all day long.

“Angels and Demons”

Directed By:
Ron Howard

Starring:
Tom Hanks
Ewan McGregor

Runtime:
2 Hrs. 18 Min.

Rated:
PG-13

Overall:
A